


Ruby in the Moonlight

by MatleenaMaddie, SilverWing15



Series: What Is Precious [1]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Child Abuse, Dream being a Dick, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I hate him So Fucking Much in this AU yall, Protective Older Brothers, Really? - Freeform, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Tragic Victorian Orphans, Vampire Hunters, Vampires, Villain Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), [checks notes], and not graphicly described, but fairly minor, but he's fun at least, but none really happens on screen, get on that people, he's usually a dick, huh, its attempted, no actual blood drinking, this time he's just, uggggghhh, why is that not a tag, yeah none
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:40:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 29,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29135688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatleenaMaddie/pseuds/MatleenaMaddie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverWing15/pseuds/SilverWing15
Summary: The Huntsman taps the side of the carriage twice and the driver clicks to the horses, the set off with the clatter of hooves. The Huntsman seems content to sit in utter silence for the trip, he’s writing something in a little book, a fancy fountain pen scratching against the paper.“What’s your name?” Tommy asks him, because he’s never liked the silence.The Huntsman pauses and looks up, his mask smiles eerily in the shadows of his hood--which Tommy realizes he never took off, even when he was inside. He stares silently until even Tommy is uncomfortable.“Dream.”“That’s a weird name.”“That’s rude.” He turns back to his journal.“Matron told you they never managed to teach me any manners.”The mask looks up again, Tommy isn’t sure how painted eyes can manage to look menacing, but they do, “you’ll learn.”///Or: SBI Victorian Vampire AU!
Relationships: Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Series: What Is Precious [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138133
Comments: 404
Kudos: 1111
Collections: Found family to make me feel something





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am So Hype for you guys to read this AU, I've been working on it with Maddie for a good while and its honestly one of my favorite fics that I've written! I've done this first part, and she'll be doing the sequel and we have a few prequels thought up as well. 
> 
> General warnings and such: Lots of referenced child abuse (yay victorian era.) Some on screen child abuse (Dream.) Tommy gets injured along the way and its described a bit but not that graphically, some mind control because Vampire Thrall. 
> 
> Like all of my stuff, everything is written in advance and will be updated daily around noon-ish CT

“Stand up  _ straight _ boy,” the Matron snaps, her cane whips out and smacks the back of Tommy’s knee. Tommy staggers with a muffled grunt. 

“If you want me to stand straight maybe don’t knock me over,” he mutters. 

“What was that?” 

“Nothing ma’am.” 

She gives him a stink eye but Tommy is well used to that. Thankfully they don't have time for her to really punish him and she leaves him be with only a sigh. “You shouldn’t sulk so, Thomas. You’re eleven now, its time you do something to help society,” she says. “Lots of boys would give anything to be in your position. Its better than the factories at least.” 

Tommy doesn’t even bother correcting his name, she hasn’t listened for the past eleven years, why would she start now? “I don’t want to leave Tubbo.” 

“He’ll do just fine without you,” Matron says. “You’re going to be a hunter, Thomas, you’ll be coming back here a hero in a few years. You can tell him all about it when you visit.” She fusses with his shirt, trying to straighten the collar. 

“There now,” she says, once she’s gotten it back to strangling him, “best behavior, remember?” 

“Yes ma’am.” 

She nods, satisfied and leads him through the door to her office. He’s been here plenty of times--usually when he’s done something, but sometimes when someone else has and they’ve just assumed that it was him--but he’s never seen it this tidy. The papers are cleared away, no dirty dishes waiting to be taken to the kitchen. 

There is also a man, sitting in the chair that Tommy usually occupies. He isn’t slouched and surly, he’s sitting like the damn thing is a throne. Back all straight, feet flat on the floor, elbows on the arms, fingers steepled in front of his chest. 

His face is hidden behind the Huntsman’s mask, the pure white plate, grinning at the world. His actual mouth, which shows beneath it isn’t. “Matron,” he says, his voice is smooth and deep, “this is the boy you mentioned?” 

“Yes, Huntsman,” Matron says, shoving Tommy forward a step. “This is Thomas, he’s a good boy. Strong.” 

The Huntsman stands, smooth and graceful, like the jungle cat that Tommy saw when he snuck into the zoo once. Only the Huntsman isn’t safely contained behind steel bars. He stalks up to Tommy, head tilted. 

Tommy keeps his face blank, doesn’t show how intimidated he is by the man. He’s wiry, but Tommy has no doubt that he’s strong. All Huntsmen have to be, to fight the Undead. He isn’t wearing his full gear. Tommy can’t see any blades, or powder bombs or vials of prime water, but Tommy has no doubt that he’s got at least one knife on him. Everyone knows that Huntsmen are always prepared, and the drape of his coat could hide a lot. 

Tommy has to crane his head back to keep looking in the Huntsman’s face as he comes nearer. He hums, stopping for a moment in front of Tommy and then circling around him like he actually  _ is _ some kind of jungle cat. 

Or like he’s a buyer inspecting a horse at market. 

A large, gloved, hand rests on his shoulder, another grabs his wrist, extending his arm out. He squeezes Tommy’s muscles, and Tommy decides that he’s had about enough of that. Despite Matron’s glare, he jerks his arm. The man’s hands don’t budge but he at least looks at Tommy’s face. “I’m not a horse,” Tommy informs him as bluntly as he can. 

The man smiles, “you’re a mouthy one,” he says almost idly. He still doesn’t let Tommy go. “That’s good, the spirited ones always do the best.” 

Tommy scowls at him and opens his mouth to respond--with something vulgar, no doubt, he hasn’t actually figured out exactly what yet--but before he can get a word out there is a calloused hand grasping his jaw. 

“Good teeth,” the huntsman says, tilting Tommy’s head. 

Tommy’s entire mind feels like it has frozen, his entire body is frozen. He isn’t a coward, but some part of him is deeply, deeply afraid to have this man so close. 

The huntsman smiles and lets him go, ruffling his hair, “that’ll do you good, lad. I’ve seen people have to get them pulled. Not a pretty sight, or sound.” 

Tommy ducks away from his hand, “What the  _ hell _ ?” he demands, “why would you--” Matron is glaring at him, the furious glare that means he’s in for a real switching if he doesn’t knock it off. His mouth clicks shut. 

The Huntsman laughs, “please, Matron,” he says, waving a hand, “its fine. Like I said, the ones with spirit always make the best hunters. Can’t get too bogged down with what’s right and proper when you’ve got a ghoul going for your throat.” 

Matron smiles her best Pious Servant smile, “If you say so Lord Huntsman,” she says, “goodness knows that we’ve never managed to beat a lesson into that boy.” 

“Oh don’t worry,” the Huntsman says, “we’ll teach him good and quick.” 

Matron smiles all the wider, “I’m sure you will. He doesn’t have much in the way of belongings I’m afraid, but all of the paperwork is in order, you’re free to go.” 

The Huntsman’s hand lands on his shoulder, immovable as stone, or shackles. 

“Goodbye, Thomas,” Matron says. 

“Bye,” Tommy mutters, and the Huntsman leads him out the door. 

There is a carriage waiting for them, horses stomping impatiently. The Huntsman opens the door and pushes Tommy in first, as if Tommy were going to try and run now. 

That would be dumb. He’ll wait until the Huntsman has lowered his guard before he tries. 

The Huntsman taps the side of the carriage twice and the driver clicks to the horses, the set off with the clatter of hooves. The Huntsman seems content to sit in utter silence for the trip, he’s writing something in a little book, a fancy fountain pen scratching against the paper. 

“What’s your name?” Tommy asks him, because he’s never liked the silence. 

The Huntsman pauses and looks up, his mask smiles eerily in the shadows of his hood--which Tommy realizes he never took off, even when he was inside. He stares silently until even Tommy is uncomfortable. 

“Dream.” 

“That’s a weird name.” 

“That’s rude.” He turns back to his journal. 

“Matron told you they never managed to teach me any manners.” 

The mask looks up again, Tommy isn’t sure how painted eyes can manage to look menacing, but they do, “you’ll learn.” 

Tommy is silent for the rest of the ride. 

They pull up to an upscale manor, a more posh place than Tommy has ever laid eyes on before. He knew that Huntsmen were paid handsomely but he didn’t know it was  _ this _ handsomely. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all. 

Dream’s hand lands on his shoulder.

Oh, right. 

He steers Tommy into the manor, not bothering to acknowledge the doorman who welcomes them in with a bow and a murmur. A butler appears as if from nowhere, “your coat, sir?” Dream unfastens the clasp of his cloak and lets the butler remove it from his shoulders with another bow. “Your mask?” Dream waves him away and he scuttles back to wherever he’d come from. 

_ What the hell. _

A maid appears in place of the butler, “tea will be ready shortly sir,” she says, her eyes firmly on the floor. “Will your guest be joining you?” 

Its the first time that anyone has actually acknowledged Tommy’s existence. 

“No,” Dream says, “he’ll be going to his room. He is tired from the excitement of the day.” 

“I’m--” Dream’s hand squeezes his shoulder and Tommy cuts himself off with a gasp. He’d thought Matron had a set of claws, but Dream has a fucking vice for a hand. 

“You’ve had a long day, Thomas,” he says, voice utterly calm, “I’m sure you’ll realize how tired you are once you get into bed.” 

Tommy really fucking doubts it but he’s not going to argue with the man. He nods, fighting the urge to look at the ground like all of the servants do. Dream’s hand finally leaves his shoulder and Tommy feels like he can actually breathe again. 

Dream turns away taking a seat in front of the roaring fire. His hand lifts and unfastens the strap of his mask, there is a light tap as he sets it on the table. Servants appear from a side door, pushing a cart with a lavish tea service set upon it. Tommy can smell the pastries, like the ones he and Tubbo once stole. 

A maid breaks off from the pack and gestures towards another door, “come young sir,” she says, “you’ll want to go to bed right quick. The master starts his day early.” 

She glances up from the floor, her eyes are wide and brown and looking at him like she’s going to cry. What the hell? 

_ What the hell? _

He opens his mouth to ask, but Dream interrupts him once again. “Goodnight, Thomas,” he turns and Tommy can see his profile backlit by the fire, his eyes seem to gleam in the light. “Sweet dreams.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You start training today,” Dream says. “It will be hard, but if you’re worth what I paid to adopt you, you’ll learn quickly and you’ll learn well. You will not complain, or I’ll give you something to complain about. You will not argue or I will make you regret it. You will not backtalk or I will push you until you drop. Am I understood?” 
> 
> “Yeah.” 
> 
> “Yes sir!” Dream barks. 
> 
> “Yes sir.”
> 
> “Good. Now pick up the staff.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so tempted to post early today, I'm so excited for you guys to really get into this story! I've been loving your comments! Enjoy the new chapter folks! 
> 
> Warnings for some 'training' that entails Tommy getting hit a lot with a stick because Dream is a Bastard.

The maid wasn’t fucking kidding. She wakes him before the sun has even risen, holding a stack of clothes. “Young sir,” she says, “you are to meet the master in the west garden. I’ll take you there once you’ve gotten dressed.” 

Tommy blinks up at her, trying to get his brain to start. “What?” 

“Young sir,” she says, and there is a bit of fear in her voice, “you must wake up, the master doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” 

Then it hits him. The Huntsman, being adopted--sold--by the orphanage. “Fuck.” 

“Indeed,” the maid says. She’s still watching him with that pitying expression, like he’s a dog that’s been hit by a carriage and left by the road. 

“Why do you keep looking at me like that?” Tommy demands, sitting up, “yeah, I’m an orphan. Deal with it. I don’t care about my parents, never knew them. I don’t need your pity.” 

The maid bites her lip, eyes flicking between him and the floor, like she’s thinking about telling him something. “My apologies, young sir,” she says eventually. “Please, get dressed. The master is waiting for you.” 

She ducks out of the room. 

What the hell is this place? 

Tommy unfolds the clothes, its a shirt and trousers, sturdy and well made. Better clothes than he’s ever owned in his life. They’re also perfectly sized for him, he realizes as he puts them on. 

_ What the fuck? _

How could Dream know his size? Why would he know his size? The clothes feel invasive, resting against his skin. Like someone is watching him even now, all alone in this room. Tommy shudders and wraps his arms around himself. 

The maid knocks, “young sir?” she calls through the door, “are you ready?” she sounds nervous. Right,  _ ‘the master’ _ doesn’t like to be kept waiting. By Prime, Tommy doesn’t understand rich people, especially not rich Huntsmen, apparently. 

“Coming,” Tommy says, he’ll take the clothes for now. They’ll be warmer and last better than anything else he’s ever had. That’ll be useful once he finds a way to ditch this place. 

He opens the door and the maid gestures for him to follow her. The house is fucking  _ massive _ , far too many rooms for one man to ever use, let alone need. The grounds aren’t any better. There’s stone pathways through hedges and bushes and all sorts of plants, the kind of shit that only rich people care about. 

Normal people don’t cut their bushes into animal shapes. Normal people don’t even have bushes, they’re utterly useless plants. 

Dream is waiting, mask and cloak on, in a sandy pit at the very back of the garden. The hedges around it are tall and cut into neat squares instead of weird shapes. Like they’re meant to keep the place hidden. 

Well, that isn’t  _ ominous as fuck _ . 

“Sir,” the maid says with a little bow, “he is ready.” 

She backs away and sets off down the path as soon as she’s done speaking, Dream doesn’t act like he’s even heard her. He’s just standing in the middle of the clearing, feet shoulder width apart, a wooden staff in his gloved hands. There is another on the ground. 

Silence settles between them. 

Tommy shifts on his feet but he doesn’t want to be the one to break it. Usually he would do it without a second thought, but there is something about Dream that makes him want to be still and silent as possible. He feels pinned down by eyes that he can’t even see because of the damn mask. 

“Lovely day,” he says finally, his voice is too quiet. 

The silence returns. 

“You start training today,” Dream says, Tommy can’t help but flinch at the sudden sound. “It will be hard, but if you’re worth what I paid to adopt you, you’ll learn quickly and you’ll learn well. You will not complain, or I’ll give you something to complain about. You will not argue or I will make you regret it. You will not backtalk or I will push you until you drop. Am I understood?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Yes sir!” Dream barks. 

“Yes sir.”

“Good. Now pick up the staff.” 

Tommy steps forward, stooping to grab it off the ground. Dream’s staff sweeps out, faster than Matron’s cane and slams into his side, knocking him into the dirt. 

“Grab the staff,” he commands again. 

Tommy opens his mouth but Dream takes a threatening step forward. Tommy scrambles back, desperate to get his feet under him. He stands as far from Dream as he can get in the hedged in alcove. 

“I said: pick up the staff.” 

Tommy watches him warily as he steps forward, Dream may as well be carved from marble. The breeze hardly seems to even stir his cloak, which he’s wearing with the hood up again, even though it isn’t that cold. 

Tommy doesn’t crouch this time, he’s a quick learner, no matter what matron says. Instead he reaches out a foot to drag the staff closer to himself. 

Dream’s hand whips out, impossibly fast and his staff slams into Tommy’s knee, hard enough that Tommy swears he can feel his bones crack. The blow takes him off his feet, leaving him lying in the dirt on his back, trying desperately to suck in a breath. 

Dream returns to his neutral stance, but Tommy can see the faintest of smiles playing at his lips. 

Fucker. 

Tommy forces air into his lungs. 

“Good.” Dream says, “You’ll need to be able to recover quickly if you’re going to fight the undead. They don’t need to catch their breath. You’ll need to be faster than this though, or they’ll tear you to shreds.” 

Oh Tommy’ll  _ show _ him fast. 

He doesn’t bother getting to his feet. Instead he rolls, grabbing the staff as he goes and ducking out of reach of Dream’s reach. He stands in the corner farthest from the man, victorious. 

Dream’s smile widens. “Good. Now, defend yourself.” 

And then he lunges. 

*** 

Dream ‘trains’ him for hours. More like he beats Tommy with a stick for hours. Tommy’s been in his fair share of fights, but they were street fights between kids. Nobody had fucking weapons, especially not the hard oak staffs that they’re working with. 

Tommy is knocked into the dirt over and over, but each time he forces himself to get up. No way in fucking hell is Dream going to keep him down. He’s not bowing to this fucker, ever. Not if he can help it. 

He aches though, his bruises have bruises and his bones feel like they’ve been reduced to powder. He is so, so tempted to just lay on the ground, but he’s sure that won’t make Dream stop. He’ll probably just hit Tommy with the damned stick 'til he gets up again. 

First chance Tommy gets, he’s burning the fucking thing, he swears. 

Finally, the sun starts to rise and Dream pauses. “I suppose that’s enough for today,” he says, “you did well enough.” 

He strides past Tommy and onto the garden path, heading back to the house without another word. Tommy stares, leaning on his staff to keep upright. Breathing hurts, he’s probably cracked every fucking rib he has with the way Dream kept hammering at him. 

He’s still not going down though. He uses the staff as a walking stick, propping himself on it as he follows Dream back to the house. The servants once more appear when Dream opens the door, whisking away the cloak and staff with low eyes and stiff bows. 

The maid from before glances up at Tommy and he swears that she’s about to cry. He sneers at her, its not like she was the one who got beat into the dirt in the middle of the damn night. 

“Breakfast sir?” the butler asks. 

“Something light,” Dream replies returning to his seat by the fire. 

“...and, for your guest, sir?” the maid pipes up hesitantly. 

Dream turns to look at her and she squeaks, swiftly looking back to the floor, shoulders tight. Dream’s gaze passes over her as if she were nothing but a statue and fixes on Tommy. The mask smiles blankly. 

“Oh,” he says, “I suppose he does need to eat. Very well, something for him too.” 

Tommy really fucking hates this guy. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We’re going out,” Dream says, “on a hunt.” 
> 
> Tommy freezes mid step. “Sir?” it still galls him to have to call Dream that, but its better than the alternative. He tries to figure out how to phrase this in a way that isn’t a question or complaint. “If you think I’m ready.” 
> 
> Dream smiles that dumb self-satisfied smug smile. “I do,” he says, his hand lands on Tommy’s shoulder, right where he’d bruised him that morning. “You’ve done well so far Thomas, you’re ready for your first look at some real undead. We’ll start you small, don’t you worry.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go fam, chapter three! I hope you guys are enjoying the story ^.^ 
> 
> Warnings: Dream, mentions of abuse, a dismembered hand

A month passes agonizingly slowly. Day by aching day, Dream wakes him hours before dawn, beats him to a pulp in the name of training, and then ignores him for the rest of the day. There are no lessons, no chores, which is something that once Tommy would have thought he’d love. 

Instead he finds it stifling. He can do nothing but wander the empty rooms, ignored by Dream and the servants until the meals roll around. He feels like a new hound, or a toy, purchased on a whim and then left abandoned when its owner grows bored. 

He wishes that Dream would ignore him for the whole day, at least then he’d stand a chance of getting away from here and he wouldn’t have to go through ‘training’ every morning. Which, is another thing, Dream won’t teach him any of the cool shit. He doesn’t get to see any of the powder bombs, or the vials of prime water, not even a blade. 

All of that is for when he’s ‘more advanced’ apparently. Tommy snorts to himself in the privacy of his room. He is supposed to be a Huntsman now, but he hasn’t learned anything but how to get his ass kicked. 

He flops into bed, the sun is barely starting to set but with how early he wakes up he feels like its the middle of the night. He’s ready to go to sleep and try to ignore the aching of his body. Maybe he’ll find a way to get out of here in the morning. 

He closes his eyes. 

Footsteps approach is door, the familiar pace of ‘his’ maid, the one that seems to be assigned to him. He still doesn’t know his name, he hasn’t asked because she still hasn’t stopped looking at him with fucking pity and calling him ‘young sir’. 

“Young sir?” she says, “the master has summoned you. You’re to get dressed and meet him in the foyer.” 

“Now?” Tommy asks. 

“I’m afraid so.” she’s got that teary look again, the one that she never explains. 

Tommy groans and drags himself out of bed. “Be there in a minute.” 

She shuts the door and he gets dressed again. By Prime can’t Dream let him have his evening of peace? 

He thumps heavily down the stairs but he doesn’t complain. He’d done that once and once was more than enough. His wrist still twinges some days from the shield practice that Dream had put him through after he’d said something about wanting to learn to block instead of just getting beaten. 

Dream is waiting for him by the door, cloak and mask on. Even after all this time, Tommy still hasn’t seen the man’s damn face. Not that he cares, but the mask is fucking creepy. Tommy can’t believe that the good guys fucking wear that shit. The undead must be  _ terrifying  _ if this is the alternative. 

“We’re going out,” Dream says, “on a hunt.” 

Tommy freezes mid step. “Sir?” it still galls him to have to call Dream that, but its better than the alternative. He tries to figure out how to phrase this in a way that isn’t a question or complaint. “If you think I’m ready.” 

Dream smiles that dumb self-satisfied smug smile. “I do,” he says, his hand lands on Tommy’s shoulder, right where he’d bruised him that morning. “You’ve done well so far Thomas, you’re ready for your first look at some real undead. We’ll start you small, don’t you worry.” 

They head out to the carriage in silence, this is the first time Tommy’s been off the grounds since Dream brought him here. It would be easy to slip away during this, Hunting is a dangerous business. He could go into a dark alley and just never come back out. 

He could go back to Tubbo, bust him out of the orphanage too and they could find some place to call their own. Now that he’s got all this training he could probably take on some undead. Tommy grins, warming to the idea. They could be like rogue hunters, taking out the Underworld from the shadows. 

Dream’s hand is tight on his bruised shoulder, drawing him back to reality. Right. First he has to get away from this fucker. Once again, Tommy is firmly guided into the carriage ahead of Dream. 

The ride is silent, they keep in the upper class districts, Tommy notices. That’s probably a good thing, everyone knows that the rich people don’t get nearly as many undead as the poor folks do. They pay the Huntsmen better, so they get more of them around. 

Finally, Dream taps the side of the carriage and it comes to a halt. “We’ll walk from here,” he says, “Don’t want to alert anything.” 

Tommy is allowed to walk out by himself without Dream’s hand on him, but as soon as they’re both on the street, the restraining grip returns. 

“Come back by at midnight, this shouldn’t take long,” Dream tells the driver, already setting off down the street, pushing Tommy ahead of him. Behind them, the carriage clatters away. 

They walk up and down the streets, Dream seems to be looking for something, but damn if Tommy can figure out what and he’s certainly not going to ask. Finally Dream stops, “alright,” he says, “we’ll set up our trap here. I’ll work on that, and you can go round up our guests.” 

Tommy stares at him, “what?” 

He braces instinctively, waiting for the consequence of questioning Dream. 

Instead, Dream’s gloved hand lands on the back of his neck. His heart freezes in his chest as Dream bends down, mask staring at him from mere inches away. “Don’t worry,” he says, almost gently, “I’ve done this plenty of times. I know how it’ll go. I won’t let you get hurt. You trust me don’t you?” 

Tommy swallows, “yes sir.” 

Dream’s thumb strokes over his spine, chills follow it. “Good,” he says. “What I need you to do, is just walk down the street until you feel something watching you, right?” 

Tommy nods, he feels almost hypnotized by the moment, the moon high above them, Dream’s mask staring at him like a miniature moon before him, his hand--chilled by the night air--on the back of Tommy’s neck. 

“Once you feel that, you just need to run back to me, and I’ll keep you safe.” 

“O-okay,” Tommy says. But he shouldn’t agree to this. Everyone knows you don’t  _ run _ from undead, they’re always faster. 

“One more thing,” Dream says, and then pain tears through his arm. Tommy screams and tries to wiggle away but Dream’s hand is steadfast on the back of his neck, pinning him in place. Tommy’s hand cradles his arm. There is something warm and wet all over it. He finally breaks Dream’s stare and looks down. There are claw marks down his arm, bleeding freely. 

There is something in Dream’s hand. Another hand, but shriveled, disembodied, with claws gleaming with Tommy’s blood. 

“You--” Tommy begins. 

Dream tilts his face up with a finger under his chin until Tommy is looking into the eyes of the mask again. “It’ll just help you with your part of the plan,” he says, “I didn’t want to warn you because it hurts less this way. Remember, just run back to me and I’ll protect you, right?” 

“I--Right.” Tommy says, he wraps his arm in his shirt. 

“Then run.” 

Tommy runs. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He runs faster. Back around the corner. He just needs to get back to Dream. Dream will protect him, he said so himself. And he’s definitely a good fighter, he’ll be able to deal with whatever this is. He promised.   
> Moonlight shines on the empty street.   
> Dream is gone.   
> There is too-cool breath on the back of his neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh, got the flu, have chapter, enjoy fam 
> 
> Warnings for: Blood, mind control

Tommy’s feet pound against the cobblestones. His entire body aches, but his arm feels like its been set on fire. Tears burn at his eyes but he refuses to let them fall. He’s going to be a Huntsman, he’s going to fight the Undead. He can’t cry because he got a little scratch. 

He glances over his shoulder, Dream is standing at the end of the street, his cloak waving idly in the breeze. Tommy runs faster. This could be it. His chance to escape. But there are already undead here, and he is bleeding. They’ll be coming for him. 

He has no choice but to go back to Dream. 

He turns the corner at the end of the street and nearly slips on a puddle. He caches himself on his good hand, breathing hard. Pain pulses from his arm in time with his heartbeat. He moans softly, clutching it closer to his chest. He’s never had an injury this bad, he doesn’t know how he’s going to go back to training with this. 

He wipes furiously at his face with his good arm, but it doesn’t stop the tears from falling. He’s so tired. He just wanted to go to bed. A sob wracks his body. 

He wants to go home. He wants to  _ have _ a home, the way some of the other kids talked about. Where people loved you and laughed with you and kept you safe and warm and fed. He wants Tubbo, and he wants somewhere soft and safe to sleep. 

Instead, he feels eyes watching him from the shadows. His head jerks up, eyes straining in the dark. There, a patch of shadows that might be deeper than the others. HIs breath catches in his throat. 

The shadows move. 

He bolts. 

He hears something hiss behind him but there is no sound of footsteps pursuing him. There never is, with the Undead. You never know that they’re coming for you until its too late. 

He runs faster. Back around the corner. He just needs to get back to Dream. Dream will protect him, he said so himself. And he’s definitely a good fighter, he’ll be able to deal with whatever this is. He promised. 

Moonlight shines on the empty street. 

Dream is gone. 

There is too-cool breath on the back of his neck. 

Tommy screams as the Undead takes him down, they roll over the cobblestones. Hands, impossibly strong grab at him, the flash of red eyes, white fangs. A body pressed against his, long and wiry, strong, so, so terribly strong. Too strong to fight. Too strong to beat. 

Tommy screams again, but a hand presses over his mouth. 

“ _ Shhh, _ ” the Undead says. Tommy freezes, heart jackrabbiting in his chest. This isn’t just a ghoul from some poorly maintained graveyard. This is something sentient. Something so much more powerful than he could take on his own. 

“ _ Shh,”  _ it says again, almost gently, its eyes gleam in the night. Blood red. “Just a taste.” There is a hiss to its voice, barely there. “I”m not going to hurt you.” 

The cold hand over his mouth turns his head until he is staring into its eyes. They’re...They’re beautiful. 

Like rubies, he thinks, glittering in the moonlight. Surely something so beautiful could’t hurt him. The moon is so bright above them, so big. He feels like he could float away into it. Just push off from the ground and go  _ away _ from everything. 

The night air stings against his arm where Dream cut it, but its a distant pain. Further away than the moon, even. The Undead lifts his arm, cool breath passes over his skin, over the cut. Dancing on the edge between ticklish and painful. 

The hand removes itself from his mouth, and ruby red eyes glance at him one more time. They’re so  _ pretty.  _

“Tommy?” 

Its been forever since somebody called him that. Since he left the orphanage. 

He misses Tubbo. 

A hand taps at his face, “Tommy,” the Undead says, how does it know his name? 

It probably isn’t important. 

He looks into the Undead’s eyes--by Prime they’re just so bright. Why would anyone be afraid of them? 

“Tommy snap out of it,” the Undead snaps, its voice--his voice--is really familiar. Weird. “Tommy what are you  _ doing _ out here? Are you insane?” 

Hey. 

Hey he knows who that is! 

“Wilby,” he grins, “your eyes,” he tries to reach for them but Wilbur grabs his hand. 

“Damn it Tommy,” he mutters. “What--what the hell? What the  _ fuck, Tommy?” _

“Uh oh.” Tommy mutters, Wilbur sounds really mad. 

“Fuck.” Wilbur says, he runs a hand through his hair, shutting his eyes tightly. He’s breathing funny, too tight and too controlled, like he’s trying to hold himself back. His hand shakes on Tommy’s wrist. “ _ Fuck _ , I can’t--” his free hand covers his mouth, then he jerks it away. Wiping furiously at the blood left on his skin. “Tommy I need you to snap out of it.” 

“I thought you were dead,” Tommy mutters. 

“I  _ am _ ,” Wilbur replies. “That’s kind of the  _ problem _ , Tommy your blood I  _ can’t _ ,” he makes a pained noise in the back of his throat. His hands reach up to clutch at his hair. 

“Get up,” WIlbur says, “get up and go get them. You can’t stay here.” he shifts, like he is going to leave, then he stops, “but I can’t  _ leave him _ . Fuck. he’s going to bleed out. Fuck, fuck, fuck.” 

He takes a deep breath then curses and covers his face with his sleeve. “Tommy,” he says, voice muffled. “I’m going to get help. I need you to wrap this around your arm and keep it there.” 

He shifts, pulling his jacket off. Tommy blinks at him dumbly. 

“Tommy  _ please,” _ Wilbur says. Tommy takes the jacket and wads it up, pressing it against his arm. It flares with pain, but Wilbur seems happy at least. 

“Okay.” he says, he breathes shakily. “I’ll be right back, just stay here and don’t fall asleep. Stay awake, Tommy, I’m going to get help.” 

He stands and takes a step away, then stops. He growls, half turned back to Tommy, half turned away. Then he darts off into the night, and Tommy is alone. 

The moon is so bright, its hurting his eyes. 

So he closes them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yaay Wilbur is here guys :)   
> And Dream is gone, good times right?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The door opens and a maid enters, but not his maid. This one has loose blonde hair, bright eyes, and a beaming smile that she aims at a man over her shoulder. She gasps when she turns and finds him awake, “oh my goodness,” her hand flutters to her chest, “you shouldn’t be up yet dear.”   
> Tommy barely hears her fussing, because his eyes slide to the man beside her. He’s dressed as a gentleman in deep greens, his golden hair pulled into a low tail at the back of his neck. He’s dressed as a gentleman, but he’s actually a monster.   
> His eyes gleam unnatural crimson, there is only one sort of being with eyes like that.   
> Undead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liiive, feeling a bit better than yesterday at least. You guys get a long chapter today! Long for my chapters at least. 
> 
> I wanted to say a quick and heartfelt thank you to everyone who's read, given kudos, bookmark/subed, and left comments. Maddie and I love all of them and she is absolutely correct in thinking that you guys are the funniest motherfuckers in existence. 
> 
> Warnings: lots of swearing. Tommy has a potty mouth and so do I.

He floats above his body, feeling, hearing, but not really understanding. The street is silent around him, and then there are voices--no footsteps, that means something, he’s sure but he can’t think what. 

“Shit,” one voice says. 

“Wilbur what did you  _ do _ ?” another demands. 

“I  _ didn’t _ !” a third voice says, but he knows this one. Wilbur. “I wouldn’t, I  _ know _ him. I just found him out here like this.” 

“Will--” the second voice says. 

“We’ll deal with it in a minute,” the first voice cuts in, “no matter what  _ actually _ happened, we all know what this looks like. We’d better fucking hope the kid is still alive.” 

Cool hands touch his face, tilting his head back and then fingers press against his throat. “He is,” the second voice says, sounding relieved. 

“We need to get him back to the manor then,” the first voice says. “And hope he has a better story than Wilbur does.” 

“I  _ didn’t do this! _ ” Will says, but the voices don’t reply. 

Someone scoops him up into their arms, his head rests against what must be someone’s chest, but he can’t hear their heartbeat. “Come on,” the second voice says, “we’ll do what we can.” 

Wind rushes around them, like they’ve stepped into a gale, and then stops just as suddenly. A door opens and suddenly he is warm, like he’s stepped into a room with a roaring fire. There is actually a crackling somewhere, weird. 

The arms set him down on something soft and comfortable and Tommy drags his eyes open enough to see a man with blond hair looming over him. His eyes gleam red, but that’s not as beautiful now, now they’re kind of terrifying but he can’t really figure out why. 

“Hey, mate,” the red-eyed man says, “you just keep fighting, okay? We’ll get you patched up in no time.” 

Its the second voice, and Tommy can hear Wilbur and the other one shouting not too far away. 

“He’s my  _ friend _ ,” Wilbur is saying, “I need to--” 

“You need to back off, get ahold of yourself Will, or I’ll make you.” The voice is a deep, threatening rumble that makes Tommy’s heart quiver in his chest. 

“Techno,” Will says, “I didn’t do this. I have better control than this. You know I wouldn’t--” 

The voice sighs, “we’ll wait and see what the kid says, Will. But you have to admit, it doesn’t look good. You come in half blood feral and leading us to a nearly dead kid with vampire scent all over him and claw marks down his arm? The Huntsmen will put together the same picture as us.” 

Wilbur takes a shaky breath, “is he going to live?” 

“We better hope so.” 

A glass presses against his lips, Tommy looks back to the blond man. “Drink,” he says, “It’ll help, I promise.” 

Vaguely, Tommy recalls another promise that was made to him tonight, but he can’t remember what it was. Liquid touches his lips and he drinks. 

Instantly he feels warmth flooding through him, he hadn’t even realized how cold he was. He sighs with relief. 

“See?” the bond man says, “you’ll be alright mate.” 

Another presence looms over them, Tommy stares up and finds another man with red eyes watching him. “How’s he doing?” 

“He’s a fighter,” the blond man says, “if he gets through the night he should be fine.” 

“You don’t think we need to turn him?” 

The blond man stiffens, “would that really be better than letting him die? It will look just as bad to the council.” 

“At least then he could explain.” 

The blond man sighs, “I don’t think we’ll need to take that step. Will alright?” 

“Coming off it okay. What do you think? He do it?” 

The blond man is silent, “I’m not sure. I don’t want to, but you saw the same thing I did. The bloodlust can be hard to fight, and Will is young.” 

A hand rests on Tommy’s head, “you better make it kid,” the gruff voice says, “now  _ rest. _ ” 

Sleep rises like the tide and drags him under. 

*** 

He wakes to the sound of birdsong. Its nice, he thinks, he turns his head to see morning sunshine streaming through a part in the drapes. It feels like its been forever since he was able to appreciate the sunrise. 

Everything feels languid and soft, in the way of lazy sunday mornings when he was little. Before the orphanage, before Dream. 

Before Dream. 

The peaceful feeling shatters. He’s slept through training, he’s slept  _ so late. _ Its  _ dawn _ . Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. 

Tommy sits up, but immediately his head spins and his stomach lurches dangerously. What the hell, did Dream finally beat his brains in with that fucking stick of his? Tommy puts a hand to his forehead, as if that will steady him. 

His arm burns, a low pulsing pain that somehow manages to be worse than his head. He gasps and pulls his sleeve down. There are clean white bandages wrapped from wrist to elbow, what the hell  _ happened? _

He looks around the room, as if that will give him answers. 

In fact, it gives him more questions. Because this isn’t his room. This doesn’t even seem like Dream’s  _ house _ . What the  _ actual fuck _ is going on? What happened? 

He pushes the blankets aside, he’s not even wearing  _ his clothes _ , he’s wearing someone’s oversized nigh shirt. His heart beats faster in his chest. He doesn’t understand what’s going on, where he is, why he’s here,  _ how _ he even got here. 

Voices in the hall. He freezes, completely and utterly, like a deer in the forest when it sees the hunter. Only there’s nowhere for him to bolt off to, nowhere to hide either, unless he wants to go under the bed. He’s not quite that desperate yet. 

The door opens and a maid enters, but not his maid. This one has loose blonde hair, bright eyes, and a beaming smile that she aims at a man over her shoulder. She gasps when she turns and finds him awake, “oh my goodness,” her hand flutters to her chest, “you shouldn’t be up yet dear.” 

Tommy barely hears her fussing, because his eyes slide to the man beside her. He’s dressed as a gentleman in deep greens, his golden hair pulled into a low tail at the back of his neck. He’s dressed as a gentleman, but he’s actually a monster. 

His eyes gleam unnatural crimson, there is only one sort of being with eyes like that. 

Undead. 

His heart pounds in his ears, his mouth is dry, his hands shake. The undead reaches a hand out to the maid, stopping her in her tracks and Tommy flinches hard. His arms curl into his chest, futilely trying to protect his heart. 

“Tommy?” the undead says, his hands raise as if in surrender, but it is a lie, a trick. “Hey mate, I’m not going to hurt you.” 

Tommy doesn’t believe it for a second. He needs to figure out a way out of here, a way out of this. Running is hopeless, running is always hopeless against the undead. His eyes flick to the window. 

The Undead opens its mouth again, trying to worm another lie into his heart, he makes sure to avoid looking it in the eyes. That’s how the powerful ones get you, and this one must be extremely powerful to have gotten itself into human society like this. 

The sun, it will help him, it will protect him. 

Tommy throws the blankets aside and lunges for the window. A shout goes up behind him, but he ignores it. His head pounds and spins, his ankles get caught in the bedclothes, he falls short of the window.  _ No no no _ . 

He kicks at the blankets, trying to get them to release him. He can hear the maid and the Undead speaking, see their feet coming around the bed. Fuck. 

He abandons the window and rolls under the bed. It won’t protect him, he’s still going to die, but at least he can be as inconvenient as possible. He curls up as tightly as he can under the headboard, his back to the wall. His side presses up against the underside of the bed every time he inhales. 

He’s cornered, he’s doomed. He’s going to die here. 

A face appears at the side of the bed. The maid. “You can come out,” she says, “he won’t hurt you.” 

“Fuck off,” Tommy snarls at her, “try and pull me out and I’ll kick your nose in.” 

She’s human, he can tell from her eyes, but she’s working with the undead. She’s thralled, or she’s betrayed humanity, either way she won’t be any safer than if he crawled out and laid himself at the feet of the Undead. 

“Tommy,” she says. 

“How do you know my name?” he demands, “I didn’t fucking tell you! You pull it out of my mind?” 

“No,” the maid says, almost desperately, “Tommy you--” 

“I don’t want to hear it!” he shouts over her, “I’ll kick your ass! Leave me alone! I’ll kill you, you stupid cow!” 

“Niki,” another voice says and Tommy’s guts turn to ice. How had he forgotten that the Undead was  _ right there? _ “Why don’t you tell Techno that our guest is awake, I’ll handle this.” 

The maid looks up, “are you sure?” 

The Undead must nod or something because the maid stands, and her feet leave the room. He’s alone, with a man-eating monster. His pulse somehow manages to quicken. 

He curls even tighter, watching the Undead’s feet as they pace around the room to the right side of the bed. The side closer to the door. Then the feet become knees as the Undead sits cross legged on the floor, Tommy can see his hands resting on his knees. 

Tommy lies tense and quiet, waiting for the Undead to make its move. Surely it will lunge any moment now, drag him out by his ankle and kill him. 

“I know you’re scared,” it says instead, “but I’m not going to hurt you.” 

“I’m not scared.” Tommy sneers automatically. He slaps a hand over his mouth. 

“Yes you are,” the Undead says, “I can hear your heartbeat.”

Well that is the  _ least _ reassuring thing that Tommy has heard in his entire fucking life. 

“If you’re trying to be comforting you’re shit at it” Tommy says, because he’s going to die one way or another, he may as well. 

The Undead laughs, “yeah, I guess I kind of am.” He shifts his weight and Tommy’s heart turns to ice, sure that he’s done playing whatever weird game this is. He doesn’t do anything more than shift though. “Tommy,” he says, “I’m really not going to hurt you. Why would I bother bringing you to my home and healing you if I was just going to kill you afterwards?” 

“I don’t know, because you’re a nutter,” Tommy snaps. 

The undead laughs again, like Tommy is  _ amusing _ . Fucker. Fucking fucker. Tommy’ll fucking  _ show _ him funny. 

“If you’re not gonna kill me then let me go.” 

The laughter stops, “I’m sorry Tommy, I can’t do that quite yet. Do you want to come out from under the bed and we can talk about it?” 

“No, fuck you.” 

“Alright. I can wait.” 

And then he fucking does. Just sits there utterly still and silent like he’s up and decided that this undead business is a wash and he’ll go ahead and be a nice,  _ normal _ corpse instead. Tommy isn’t that lucky though, he knows that the Undead is just trying to wait him out. 

Jokes on him, Tommy can be patient too. He’s got nothing but time. 

They sit in silence for a minute, a minute and a half. Two minutes. 

Fuck. 

“What kind of fucking undead lives in a manor anyway?” 

“Well, in the case of this manor, vampires.” 

Oh fuck. Oh fucking fuck. Oh fucking hell. 

_ Vampires? _

The only thing worse than vampires is fucking  _ demons _ . 

“Ah,” the Undead--the fucking  _ vampire-- _ says, “that didn’t help.” 

“Why would that have helped?” Tommy demands, his voice high and hysterical. 

“Some people find having more knowledge makes them feel more in control of the situation.” 

“You’re a vampire and I’m under a fucking bed.” 

“You don’t have to be,” the vampire says coaxingly, “you could come out.” 

“Fat fucking chance.” 

The vampire sighs. “Tommy, you know I could just lift the bed and pull you out.” 

He could, one bed isn’t enough to stop a prime-damned vampire. A fucking  _ steel wall _ wouldn’t be enough to stop a vampire. 

“The  _ point _ ,” the vampire says, “is that I’m not hurting you, and I’m not  _ going _ to hurt you. I’d like to talk about this like civilized people.” 

“Well I’m not fucking civilized.” 

“That is becoming abundantly clear.” The vampire still sounds utterly fucking calm, like he’s willing to do this for as long as Tommy is. Fucking fine. 

“Your maids are shit,” Tommy mutters, “there’s tons of dust down here.” 

“Usually we don’t have guests  _ under _ the beds.” 

“You’ve just got a fucking answer for everything don’t you?” 

The vampire hums and Tommy just  _ knows _ that he’s doing it to be fucking infuriating. He growls to himself. 

“How do you know my name?” That bits been bothering him, he’s damn sure that vampires can’t actually read people’s minds. Thrall them, sure, but reading them is a different thing. 

“Wilbur told us.” 

Everything just. Stops. 

“Wilbur is dead.” His voice is faint, hoarse. 

“Yes,” the vampire replies, and it almost sounds gentle, “but that’s less of a problem for us than it is for humans.” 

Tommy feels bile gather at the back of his throat, “you turned him.” He whispers, horrified. “You fucking turned him.” 

“He asked us to,” the vampire says soothingly, like it isn’t a fucking lie. Like they didn’t kill Tommy’s friend, his brother, and desecrate his fucking corpse. 

“He was sick, Tommy,” the vampire says, “he was dying already.” 

“ _ Shut up _ !” Tommy snarls. “Shut the fuck up.” he wants to cover his ears, but there isn’t enough room to move his arms under this fucking  _ bed _ . 

“Maybe he told you about us?” the vampire says, “I’m Phil, you’re in Techno’s house.” 

The names are familiar, but Tommy refuses to believe them. “Will wouldn’t have let us believe he was dead. He’d have come. He’d have told us. He’d have come for us.” 

“Mate,” Phil says softly.

“Shut up!” 

Phil sighs and leans over, and finally Tommy can see his face, his terrible blood red eyes sympathetic and concerned. “He wanted to,” he says softly, “he wanted to come for you, and your friend. Tubbo, but it doesn’t work that way Tommy.” 

It makes his gut clench to hear Tubbo’s name on the vampire’s lips. He wants to run out of this fucking house, find Tubbo, make sure that he’s alright. They know his  _ name _ . Fuck. 

They’ve already taken Wilbur from him. 

Tears sting at his eyes. “He should have come.” 

“I know,” Phil says, “I know mate. I’m sorry.” 

“No you’re fucking not.” 

“I am, but you don’t have to believe me. Wilbur loves you Tommy, so much. When he came to us he--” Phil sighs, “why don’t you come out here and talk to me, Tommy?” 

Tommy doesn’t answer. Its so fucking dusty down here, its making his nose run. That’s all it is. He sniffles miserably, shutting his eyes against the sight of Phil’s sad expression.

A cold hand wraps around his wrist and Tommy freezes. It does him no good, there is nothing to hold onto, nothing to stop him from sliding over the stupid fancy flooboards and out of he meager shelter. 

“No, no, no. Let go. Stop!” His breath comes hard and fast, his heat beats overtime, like it knows that its about to stop forever. A whimper rises out of his throat. 

“Shh,” Phil says, and he pulls Tommy closer, until he’s right up against the vampire’s too still chest. His arms wrap around Tommy, caging him there. He tucks Tommy’s head under his chin instead of forcing it back to bare his throat. 

Oh. 

This is...this is a hug. 

He’s getting hugged by a vampire. 

His brother is a vampire. 

Its stupid, its going to get him killed, but nobody’s hugged him like this since Wilbur died. Since Wilbur left. He buries his face in Phil’s chest and cries. 

Phil’s hand strokes his hair, and Tommy  _ melts.  _

“There you go,” Phil says soft and gentle, “just breathe.” 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The door opens, and Tommy looks up, expecting to see the maid that Phil said he would send. Only it isn’t her. Its Will. 
> 
> Will looks better than he had that day he left for his shift, his jacket tight around him even though it was summer, his skin sallow and pale, deep bruises under his eyes, a cough in his chest as he promised them he’d be back soon. 
> 
> This Will looks healthy, his skin isn’t pale, his hands don’t shake, his hair is brushed and soft, not lank and greasy. Only his eyes aren’t familiar warm brown, but bloody crimson.
> 
> “Hey,” the vampire that looks like Will says, “Phil said you were up.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another day another chapter! I am Loving hearing y'all's thoughts on this story ^.^ <3 I'm so glad you guys are enjoying it! 
> 
> Warnings: angst

He doesn’t know how long Phil lets him sit there in his arms. Long enough for his legs to go numb underneath him. He doesn’t want to move though, because moving will somehow break this spell, he is sure. 

If he moves, this is real, and then Phil is a vampire, and Wilbur is a vampire, and he is a vampire hunter. Fuck, he’s a vampire hunter. Or at least he’s training to be one. He can’t let them know, they’ll kill him for sure, even  _ if _ Wilbur has somehow convinced them not to kill him. That has to be why they haven’t already. 

“Tommy?” Phil asks, his voice a soft murmur. 

“Yeah?” 

“I know you’re tired, and stressed, but I need to know if you remember last night at all.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Your arm,” Phil shifts and his fingers brush the bandages that Tommy had almost forgotten about, “do you remember how you got this?” 

Tommy opens his mouth to say no, he doesn’t, but then it comes to him in a flash. Dream taking him on a hunt, telling him to run, scratching him with that fucking….disembodied hand. He can’t tell Phil that though. “A little bit,” he says instead. 

Phli pulls away and tilts Tommy’s face up to his, “this is very important,” he says, “was it Wilbur?” 

“What? No! Of course it wasn’t--” Suddenly, the half-remembered conversation from last night makes just a little bit more sense. “No. Wilbur didn’t hurt me. It wasn't him.” 

“Are you sure? I know you might think that Will would never hurt you but the bloodlust can be--” 

“It wasn’t him!” Tommy shouts, “it was--it was another vampire.” 

Phil stiffens, “another vampire?” 

Right, vampires are territorial. That’s fine, that’s good, he can work with this. Tommy nods, “I was walking, and I felt eyes on me, and it chased me.” Its easy to let his voice shake with fear, “I kept thinking it was going to get me, but it kept letting me go. It,” he clutches his injured arm closer, “it got me once but I manged to get away. And then it just stopped chasing me and Will found me.” 

Phil relaxes, “alright,” he says, “that’s--well, not good. But better than it could be.” 

Abruptly, Tommy realizes that he’s still sitting here, getting  _ hugged _ by a  _ vampire. _ He pulls away and Phil lets him with a sad sort of smile. 

Fucking vampires. 

Weird shits.

Tommy hunches his shoulders and looks away, “can I leave now?” 

“...not, just yet, mate,” Phli says, and Tommy should have expected that. Should have known that getting out of a vampire’s house wouldn’t be as easy as simply asking. 

Everyone knows that you don’t get out of a vampire’s lair, it holds true for if they’re living in a cave or in a fucking manor. He’s never going to get out of here. Not unless they let him go, and vampires are possessive as they are territorial. 

“I’m gonna go talk to Techno,” Phil says, “but I can send Will in if you want.” 

Does he want that? 

He shrugs and swipes again at the tears drying on his cheeks. 

“Alright,” Phil says, “let’s get you back to bed in the meantime. You’re really not meant to be up. Niki will flay me if she knows I let you get this upset.” 

Right, as if there was anything a maid could do against a vampire. 

Phil fucking  _ picks him up _ and stands. Tommy barely has time to tense before he’s put back in the bed with blankets tucked around him. “You’ve lost a lot of blood,” Phil says, “so you’re likely to be pretty weak until you’ve replaced it. I’ll get Niki to bring you something to eat, alright?” 

“Sure.” 

If he’s going to be some vampire’s plaything he may as well get good food out of it. 

*** 

If there was any point, he’d try to escape. But he’s been living in one of these fucking fancy mansions for a month and he hadn’t managed it. There’s no way he manages to get out of a mansion full of vampires. Tommy huddles on the bed and tries to come up with a plan. 

He can’t let them know he’s a hunter. That’s first and foremost his biggest concern. They might toy with him, maybe drink from him, but they’ll do far worse if they know what Dream’s been training him to do. 

He doesn’t know what to do, Wilbur would--Tommy cuts the thought off as soon as it starts. 

He puts his face in his hands. By prime,  _ Will _ . 

He’d been the one to look out for Tommy and Tubbo at the orphanage, he’d been their leader, their brother, their guide. 

And then he’d gotten sick, and then he hadn’t gotten better. And then one day he’d just been gone, never come back from his shift. They’d stayed up waiting for him, day after day, night after night. Even when everyone else was already giving them pitying looks. 

People get sick all the time. People don’t come back from their shifts all the time. People die all the time. Its a dangerous world they live in. The best they could hope for was that Will died in some back alley and his body was put into some anonymous pauper’s grave when there was no family to claim him. 

The worst, of course, was that Will was out there somewhere, dead, but his body still moving. Hunting through the alleys for more victims to join him. 

Now Will is a vampire, the worst has come to pass. Worse than the worst, really. At least a ghoul wouldn’t speak with his voice, wouldn’t be smart enough to pretend to be him. Pretend to care. 

Tommy always thought that he’d be so glad to get out of the orphanage, that he’d never want to go back to that place once he’d finally left it. He was wrong, he knows now. He wants nothing more than to go back to before Dream came for him. Before Will was dead but not gone. 

He curls the blankets around himself and tries his best not to think of how gently Phil held him, how close. Phli is a vampire, he doesn’t really care. Its just some game. 

All Tommy can do is wait for Phil to get tired of playing it. 

And hope that he goes quickly and they don’t bother turning him. 

He shivers, even though it isn’t really cold in the room. 

The door opens, and Tommy looks up, expecting to see the maid that Phil said he would send. Only it isn’t her. Its Will. 

Will looks better than he had that day he left for his shift, his jacket tight around him even though it was summer, his skin sallow and pale, deep bruises under his eyes, a cough in his chest as he promised them he’d be back soon. 

This Will looks healthy, his skin isn’t pale, his hands don’t shake, his hair is brushed and soft, not lank and greasy. Only his eyes aren’t familiar warm brown, but bloody crimson.

“Hey,” the vampire that looks like Will says, “Phil said you were up.” 

Tommy stares. The vampire has Will’s familiar old ‘everything isn’t okay but I’m trying to make it seem like it is’ smile. The one that he always had after the factory had stiffed him his pay, or some scheme had fallen through. This isn’t Will though, this is a vampire. Its never worked at a factory, it has lurked in shadows and killed innocents since Wilbur left his body behind. 

The vampire’s smile dims, “I’m glad you’re okay,” it says, taking a step into the room. 

Tommy curls up tighter, he’s already got his back to the headboard. He knows that running won’t work, hiding won’t either. All he can do is sit here. 

Wilbur--the vampire--looks hurt. “I know that you probably aren’t...happy to see me like this.” it says. “I wanted to tell you, I did. I wanted to come for you and Tubbo.” 

“You stay the  _ fuck _ away from Tubbo,” Tommy snarls, there is no thought about what the vampire will do to him for saying it. Only the instinct to protect the one brother he has left. He’s pushed away from the headboard, like he’s going to fight a fucking vampire. 

He will, he won’t win but he’ll fight a hundred fucking vampires for Tubbo. 

The vampire takes a step back, like Tommy could actually do anything to it. Its face crumbles, like it actually is pained by Tommy’s anger. Like it cares. 

It doesn’t. 

It looks like Wilbur but it isn’t Wilbur. It doesn’t care about him, or Tubbo. It only cares about its next meal. 

“Tommy,” it says, and Tommy  _ hates _ that it knows how to mimic Will’s voice so well. That it can sound like Tommy’s ripped out its un-beating heart and torn it to shreds. 

Tommy curls back up, wrapping his arms around his legs. “Leave me alone. I don’t want to talk to you.”

He’d let himself get lulled into a false sense of security with Phil. With the fucking soft voice, with the fucking  _ hug _ . Prime, they must have had such a good laugh about that. Their little toy, their little snack curling up like a docile pet to the chest of the thing that’s going to kill it. 

He’s not going to fall for that shit a second time. 

“Okay,” the vampire says in Will’s voice. “I’ll leave you be then.” 

Its a good actor. 

Tommy curls in on himself even more as the door clicks shut, like he can somehow fill the empty void in his chest if he just crushes himself small enough. 

It doesn’t work. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Voices in the hall rouse him out of his memories. Two of them, both deep men’s voices. At first they’re too muffled to make out, but they’re coming closer. 
> 
> There are no footsteps accompanying them.
> 
> The vampires. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit late today, sorry fam, I'm working on doodling something for the later chapters. I"ll see if I can figure out how to post images in Ao3 for you ^.^ 
> 
> Wanrings: none

The maid comes and Tommy ignores her, she chatters at him as she sets up a small tray with what looks like a bowl of broth and a roll. Tommy doesn’t register the words, he just lets them flow over him. She’s got to be thralled or something, listening to her would be no different than listening to the vampires themselves. 

He waits until she leaves before he even looks at the food. He should be starving, he went to bed without dinner the night Dream took him for the hunt--that was only last night, Prime, it already feels like a lifetime ago--and its well past his usual hour for breakfast. 

The meal only stirs up a faint sort of hunger though. Its not as though there’s much point to eating anyway, he’s going to die here, no matter what lies the vampires weave around him. It might be better to simply lie here in this bed and wait for them to get bored of him enough that they kill him. If he isn’t interesting, they might even just let him stay dead. 

He watches the patterns the steam makes in the air above the bowl, idly making pictures out of it for the fractions of a second that they last. Will had once taken him and Tubbo down to the pier to see the ships as they came in. Great steam boats coming from far off places carrying things strange and mundane. 

They’d gotten lunch from a little stand, fish so freshly caught that half of the catch was still being unloaded. They’d burnt their fingers, all sharing one fillet as they sat on a little grassy knoll. Will had pointed up to the clouds and told them stories about the shapes he saw, laughing as Tommy and Tubbo added their own characters. 

He’d gotten sick after that. At first they’d just thought it was bad fish, but Tommy and Tubbo hadn’t gotten sick. Just Will. 

And then it was just Tommy and Tubbo. 

Voices in the hall rouse him out of his memories. Two of them, both deep men’s voices. At first they’re too muffled to make out, but they’re coming closer. 

There are no footsteps accompanying them.

_ The vampires _ . 

Phil is one of them, but the other is only vaguely familiar, like he’d heard it in a dream. Or in the half-remembered time from last night. 

Why would they be coming now? Surely they have other things to do. Shouldn’t they be sleeping or something? He thought vampires were nocturnal. 

_ “....echno, he’s scared already, I think we should give him some time to calm down. _ ” Phil says, his words finally clear. 

_ “Fear won’t kill him _ ,” the other voice--Technoblade, Tommy thinks--says,  _ “and I want my answers while things are still as clear as they can be. The longer we wait the more he’ll forget. You know how humans are.”  _

Phil sighs, but doesn’t argue. 

They must be nearly to the door now, and Tommy is just sitting here. He has to do something. 

But he can’t run. 

He can’t hide.

He certainly can’t fucking fight. 

He pulls the blankets tighter around himself and tries to calm his heart. Phil said that he could hear it and Tommy isn’t going to let them know that he’s scared. Even if he is. His fingers twist into the fabric. 

Someone knocks on the door. “Hey mate,” Phil calls through, “just wanted to talk to you real quick. Can we come in?” 

Why is asking? Why would he bother? Its his fucking house, and besides, he’s a  _ fucking vampire _ , even if Tommy had locked the door he could rip it off its hinges. 

“Tommy?” Phil asks, apparently he’s been quiet for too long. 

He opens his mouth but can’t bring himself to call for them to come in. He doesn’t  _ want _ them to come in, he wants to get out of here. 

“Techno--” Phil says, suddenly disapproving, the door handle turns. 

“I’m not standing in the hall of my own house,” Technoblade rumbles, the door swings open. 

Phil and Wilbur look fairly human, aside from their eyes. 

Technoblade fucking  _ doesn’t _ because surely no human could be that  _ huge _ . He’s dressed like any other high class gentleman, but Tommy is sure that nobody could possibly be fooled by this guy. 

Then again, maybe everyone was just too fucking scared to say anything. 

Tommy certainly is. He stares up (and up, and  _ up _ ) at Technoblade until he sees crimson eyes staring dispassionately down at him. Like he’s nothing more than an object in a museum or some shit. Something that was once useful, but now is merely a curiosity. 

Tommy shudders and looks away. 

“So,” Phil says, a little awkwardly, “this is Techno. Techno this is Tommy.” 

“I”m aware,” Technoblade grunts. He crosses the room to sit in the chair at Tommy’s bedside--Tommy blinks at it and wonders if the maid had sat with him or something. 

“You didn’t eat.” Technoblade says, a note of disapproval in his voice that makes Tommy more afraid than any of the screaming fits of rage that Matron threw at him over the years. His shoulders creep up towards his ears, his arms curling around himself, but he still doesn’t say anything. He can’t bring himself to, not when he can feel those blood-red eyes boring into him. “You need to,” Techno says, “but starve if you want.” 

His eyes finally turn away. 

Tommy glances up and finds Phil standing with a hand on Technoblade’s shoulder. They’re looking at each other and twitching their faces like they’re having a conversation through their eyes. 

Is that something vampires can do or have they just known each other for centuries or some shit? Either one could be right, vampires are fucking ridiculous. 

Technoblade sighs, “I just want to ask you about the vampire that attacked you,” he says, there’s something reluctant in his tone. Like a boy who’s been scolded and has to apologize but doesn’t really want to. 

Tommy is intimately familiar with that tone, it makes Technoblade just the tiniest fraction of a bit less intimidating. 

“Okay,” he manages to whisper. 

Technoblade grunts, “I’ll know if you’re lying,” he says, and then like that hasn’t just thrown Tommy into complete panic, “did you see his face?” 

Fuck fuck fuck fuck. Okay. Okay he can just-- 

Well--

He can-- 

How accurate is this truth sense? Clearly it doesn’t work on  _ everything _ or he’d know that Phil was lying when he said that Tommy had been attacked by another vampire. So maybe...he can bend the rules a little bit. 

“No,” he says, “he was wearing a mask or something.” 

He holds his breath and hopes that Techno doesn’t notice. Dream  _ was _ wearing a mask, and Tommy hadn’t seen his face, and technically, he was the one to attack him. The only thing that was a lie was the vampire bit. 

Technoblade grunts, but he doesn’t gut Tommy, so Tommy assumes that he’s gotten away with it. “Around where did you first see him?” 

“At the orphanage,” Tommy says carefully. He doesn’t expand on it, that’s where lies always get too complicated. When you start adding details you start adding spots to mess up. Just keep it simple and easy to remember. 

Techno hums, but he still doesn’t call Tommy out. Is this actually working? A hysterical giggle wants to rise out of his throat but Tommy desperately wrestles it down. 

His eyes flick up to Technoblade’s face, the vampire is frowning, not at Tommy, thankfully, but he’s looking off to the side. Lost in thought or something. 

Tommy glances to Phil and gets a tense sort of smile. He bites back a scowl and looks down to his lap. He’s not falling for Phil’s nice act a second time. He wonders if they’ll kill him now that he’s answered their questions, or if they’ll keep him around. 

A massive hand latches around his wrist, just above where the cuts start. Tommy’s heart lodges in his throat and he immediately tries to yank his hand away but he doesn’t think Technoblade even notices. 

Tommy freezes as Technoblade rather delicately begins to unwind the bandages, exposing the wound to the air. He flicks his eyes from his arm to Technoblade’s face. He doesn’t look angry, only neutral, like he’s doing something entirely routine instead of something  _ utterly terrifying _ . 

Tommy pulls at his arm hesitantly, trying to slip it out of Technoblade’s grasp without somehow offending the vampire. If that’s possible. Techno grunts and he freezes, his breath is coming faster and faster, his heart feels like its going to beat its way out of his ribcage.

The bandages stick a little bit and he gasps at the pinch of pain. 

“Sorry,” Technoblade mutters, to Tommy’s complete and utter shock. 

Tommy swallows, once, twice, licks his lips. “What--what are you doing?” his voice is quiet and shaky. If he weren’t a vampire Techno probably wouldn’t hear him. 

“Looking.” 

“Oh.” Tommy twists his fingers though the blankets in his lap. He wants to pull away again but he doesn’t dare. Technoblade’s hand is cool and solid on his wrist, immovable, inescapable. 

Finally the last of the bandages fall away and Tommy’s wound is completely bared. It looks bad, four deep red lines down his forearm, held closed with a line of neat stitches. A few beads of blood rise from the cuts and Tommy’s heart freezes in his chest. As though it could stop them from growing. Stop them from tempting the vampires with their scent. 

Technoblade rotates his arm and even though it makes the pain flare, Tommy holds his tongue. His heart pounds in his ears. 

Even one vampire would be enough to kill him, let alone two. And they’re both here, looming over him, one of them holding his already injured arm. His skin has never felt so fragile, like the pages of a bible, unbelievably thin. His bones must be made of glass. 

They could tear him to shreds. 

Technoblade raises a handkerchief and dabs away the beads of blood, like they mean nothing. “Doesn’t look like you pulled any stitches,” he says, Tommy can barely understand his voice, its just a deep rumble that vibrates against his ears. 

“You’re lucky Wilbur found you so quickly,” Technoblade says, almost idly. He still hasn’t let go of Tommy’s wrist. His hand looks so small held in Technoblade’s. Tommy’s eyes flick back to Technoblade’s face. There is a tiny wrinkle on his brow. “Really lucky,” he mutters. 

And then he pulls Tommy’s arm towards himself, towards his face. 

Tommy gasps desperately, trying to yank his arm away. “Wait,  _ wait, don’t _ ,” his voice is high and terrified and he doesn’t care. His free hand pries at Technoblade’s fingers, nails digging into the skin. 

“Techno,” Phil says, standing up straight from where he was leaning on the wall. 

Technoblade doesn’t seem to hear either of them. 

His breath washes over Tommy’s arm and a strangled fearful noise wrestles its way out of his throat. Technoblade’s eyes finally flick up to him, “I’m not biting you,” he says, flat and bored. 

It isn’t reassuring. 

Tommy yanks at his arm again, Technoblade’s grip tightens. 

“You’re going to hurt yourself.”

“Techno maybe--” Phil begins but Technoblade’s eyes flick to him and he shuts up. 

_ Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.  _

Tommy whimpers again, and Technoblade sighs, and his eyes meet Tommy’s, and...surely he wouldn’t hurt Tommy. He hasn’t so far, he doesn’t intend to. Tommy just knows. 

He watches with half-lidded eyes as Technoblade brings his wrist up to his face, near his mouth. His heart flutters, but there’s no reason to be scared of Technoblade. 

“Really, Techno?” Phil asks, he sounds disapproving, but Tommy doesn’t really know why. 

“He wasn’t going to calm down, you know that.” 

Phil sighs, and Technoblade turns back to Tommy’s hand, cradled in his own. 

Technoblade doesn’t bite him, instead his nose hovers only a few centimeters over Tommy’s skin as he inhales deeply. He freezes, and for a split second, Tommy can see fear on his face. Then its transformed into rage. No, rage is too mild a word. This is  _ wrath _ . 

A deep growl rumbles out of Technoblade’s chest, like crashing thunder, his lips pull back and Tommy sees the ivory glint of long fangs. He drops Tommy’s wrist and stands abruptly. 

“Techno” Phil asks, “Techno what is it?” 

Technoblade strides past him without a word. Tommy frowns, sad to see him go. Even if Technoblade’s anger was terrifying. 

“Fuck,” Phil mutters. He starts to follow after him, then stops and turns back to Tommy. “Might be best if you go to sleep, mate.” He rests a hand on Tommy’s forehead and Tommy’s body goes slack, falling back to the pillows as sleep overwhelms him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know: Techno was *absolutely* bullshitting about the truth sense lmao. He just straight up lied because he knew Tommy would believe him and hopefully wouldn't try to lie as a result.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Tommy,” Dream says in a loud whisper, the street around them is utterly silent, his voice carries well. “Thank goodness you’re alive, are you okay?”  
> Tommy stares, taken aback by how relieved Dream sounds. As if he hadn’t fucking vanished and left Tommy to get mauled by a vampire. It was only pure luck that Wilbur hadn’t killed him.   
> “Am I okay?!” Tommy hisses down to him, “Yeah, surprisingly, considering you left me to fucking die.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're almost at a hundred comments on this thing you guyyysss 😭😭 you're all so nice! Thank you to everyone for reading and giving feedback. I hope you enjoy today's chapter! 
> 
> Warnings: Dream.

“Tommy,” Wilbur says, a hand shakes his shoulder, “hey, wake up for a second.” 

Tommy groans and pushes at Will’s hand, “ ‘m up.” 

Wilbur laughs, soft and strangely pained, “you’re lying.” 

“Am not,” Tommy mutters, he opens his eyes and blinks at the ceiling. It isn’t the right ceiling. Not the patched, ragged mess of the orphanage. Its…

His eyes meet Wilbur’s. 

Blood red. 

Tommy shoves the vampire’s hand off his shoulder, his heart pounding. Phil, Technoblade, they were here, questioning him. Techno unwrapped his wrist, lifted it to his mouth. Fuck fuck fuck. He clutches his arm to his chest, someone’s bandaged it again, he tears the dressing off. 

There are no bite marks, only a layer of poultice applied to the wound. Wilbur’s--the vampire’s voice suddenly registers. 

“You’re going to hurt yourself,” the vampire is saying, “here, let me see it.” 

“No!” Tommy snaps, curling his body away as if that would shelter him. “I thought I told you to leave me the fuck alone.” 

“I just--wanted to check up on you, before I left.” The vampire says softly. “I understand that you’re mad Tommy, I’m sorry. I know I promised I’d be back, I really thought I--” 

“ _ You _ didn’t promise  _ shit _ ,” Tommy snarls, “Wilbur did.” 

“Tommy I am Wilbur.” 

“No you’re fucking  _ not _ ! You’re just some fucking  _ thing  _ that took over his body.” 

The vampire’s hands grab his shoulders, forcing him to turn towards it, but Tommy resolutely keeps his eyes on his lap. He doesn’t care if it pisses the vampire off, he’s not getting thralled again. 

“Tommy, look at me,” the vampire commands, “I  _ am _ Wilbur, this isn’t some act I’m putting on. I am the same person who held you when you had nightmares. I was the one who made you that soup after you were throwing up for days.” One hand leave’s Tommy’s shoulder to brush on his forehead, just under his hair, tracing a line that almost no one knows exists, “I know how you go this scar. Trying to get that ball back for Tubbo. You came in, blood all down your face, smiling all proud and nearly gave me a heart attack. Its  _ me _ , Tommy. I love you.”

Tommy’s breath comes in a shuddering gasp, his eyes burn. He can’t fall for this. Even though Wilbur’s hand is cupping his cheek so gently, his face desperately searching Tommy’s own. He can’t believe the lies, because the crimson eyes of a vampire are looking at him. 

He misses his brother. 

“You left,” he chokes out, “you just  _ left _ .” 

“I know,” Will says, and he pulls Tommy to his too-still chest, “I know, I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry Tommy.” 

Tommy’s ear presses to his chest, they’ve sat like this a hundred thousand times. But this time the reassuring beat of Wilbur’s heart is gone. 

“I missed you,” Wilbur whispers, “every fucking day. You and Tubbo, I thought about you every single day, I swear. I never forgot you.” 

“Why didn’t you  _ come? _ ” Tommy asks,  _ Why didn’t you come back, why did you leave me and Tubbo in that stupid fucking orphanage. Why didn’t you stop them from letting Dream take me? Why didn’t you stop him from hurting me? _ He traps the questions behind his teeth.  __ “You said you’d always come.” 

“I know,” Will says, his voice breaks in the middle. “I know Tommy.” 

Tommy’s fist slams into Wilbur’s chest, “you  _ promised,” _ he snarls, suddenly, irrationally angry. “You promised you’d come back. You promised you’d keep us safe!” 

Wilbur takes the hit without so much as a flinch, without a word of complaint. He takes the next one too, and the one after that. He takes them all until Tommy can’t summon up any more anger and he’s left with a hollow feeling in his chest. Like he’s the one who died instead of Wilbur. 

“I don’t want you here,” he says, pulling out of Wilbur’s arms. “Go away. Go be with your vampire friends, since you like them so much.” 

“Tommy--” Wilbur says quietly. His hand reaches out. Tommy turns away. 

Wilbur doesn’t touch him, he sighs quietly. “Phil and Techno are out looking for the vampire that attacked you, I’ll....I’ll go join them. Niki is here, asleep, if you need something you can ring for her. I’ll be back, okay?” 

“Don’t fucking say that,” Tommy snaps, “don’t ever say that again.” 

“Okay,” Wilbur says, “I won’t. I--I love you, Tommy.” 

He gets up and in a moment, Tommy hears the door handle turn. 

The door shuts behind Wilbur and he is alone again.

*** 

Maybe thirty minutes after Wilbur has left, there is a sharp  _ tak _ at the window. Tommy flinches at the noise, but nothing happens so he relaxes again. Just when he’s decided it was a branch hitting the window, it happens again.  _ Tak, tak _ . 

Tommy gets out of bed and pulls aside the drapes. There is no tree outside of the window, but there, on the street, just out of the shadows, stands Dream. 

As Tommy stares, eyes wide with disbelief, Dream lifts a hand and waves at him. Part of Tommy wants to just shut the curtains again and pretend he hadn’t seen anything. But another part of him stops his hand, Dream is probably the only way he’s getting out of this house with his life. 

Even if Wilbur is  _ Wilbur _ , who’s to say being a vampire hasn’t changed him? He might want to turn  _ Tommy _ now, and Tubbo next. He can’t stay here, in a den of vampires, even if they’re pretending to be kind. Even if they’re not pretending. 

Not that he thinks they aren’t. 

He flips the latch of the window and opens it. 

“Tommy,” Dream says in a loud whisper, the street around them is utterly silent, his voice carries well. “Thank goodness you’re alive, are you okay?”

Tommy stares, taken aback by how relieved Dream sounds. As if he hadn’t fucking  _ vanished _ and left Tommy to get mauled by a vampire. It was only pure luck that Wilbur hadn’t killed him. 

“Am I okay?!” Tommy hisses down to him, “Yeah, surprisingly, considering you left me to fucking  _ die _ .” 

“ _ Tommy. _ ” Dream says, stern and threatening and Tommy’s mouth clicks shut. Dream makes him sit in silence for a second before he continues, “I didn’t abandon you,” he says, “I wouldn’t do that. You ran the wrong way, I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” 

“What?” Tommy asks, “no I--” 

Did he go the wrong way? Its hard to remember, he’d been running. And then Wilbur had been there, Wilbur had been chasing him and he’d just run.

“I saw signs of a vampire,” Dream says, “If I’d known there was one in the area I’d have never taken us here, far too dangerous for an apprentice. How are you still alive?.” 

“One of the vampires is--was, my brother,” Tommy says, part of him wants to hide it from Dream, but if Dream knew he’d lied then he would be  _ angry _ . So fucking angry. 

Dream stares up at him for a moment, his mouth hanging open, and then he laughs. He doubles over in the street, cackling. “You’re not serious,” he says, “of  _ all _ the kids--” Dream cuts himself off and straightens, “sorry,” he says, “just, what are the  _ odds _ .” 

Tommy stares at him, is Dream fucking  _ drunk _ or something? 

“Are you going to get me out of here or what?” Tommy demands. 

Dream’s mask tilts, “I could,” he says thoughtfully, “but Tommy, don’t you see what an opportunity this is?” 

He paces a bit, and speaks like he’s warming to an idea. An idea that is  _ entirely fucking insane _ if it doesn’t involve Tommy getting out of this fucking house before the vampires come back. 

“You can be undercover,” Dream says, “think about it Tommy, you go undercover, feed me their secrets, their weaknesses, and then I’ll come rescue you. Think of all the people we’ll save.” 

“Are you _ \-- _ ” Tommy cuts himself off. He can’t question Dream, but he also can’t just...fucking go  _ undercover _ in a vampire’s nest. “Dream I can’t, they’re going to kill me, please, just get me out.” 

“They won’t  _ kill _ you, Tommy.” Dream says, “They’re vampires, and your brother is one of them. Vampires are possessive, they’ll keep you, sure, but they won’t hurt you. Probably. Honestly, killing them is probably your only way out. They think you’re theirs now, they don’t let go of their stuff. Not unless someone kills them.” 

“Dream please,” Tommy says, his heart fluttering at the thought of the vampires thinking of him as  _ theirs _ . Like he is a toy, a possession. 

“Are you questioning me, Tommy?” Dream asks, his voice low and grave. 

Tommy looks at the windowsill, “no.” 

“No?” 

“No sir.” 

“You’ll be fine, Tommy,” Dream says, “just trust in me and you’ll get out of this. I’ll come back and check on you in a few days.” 

He turns away. 

“Dream wait!” Tommy calls, reaching out a hand as if he could cross the vast chasm between them. “Please.” 

“Just trust me, Tommy. This will all be over soon.” 

Dream slips into the shadows without another word. Tommy stares for a long moment, hoping against all logic that Dream will reappear. He doesn’t. 

Eventually, Tommy shuts the curtains and returns to bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, everyone was real pissed that Dream abandoned Tommy, he's back now. yaay


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Did you hear anything last night?” Phil asks, “see anyone outside maybe?”   
> Tommy’s heart freezes in his chest. Fuck did they know that Dream had come? Its only Phil and Wilbur, they won’t know that he’s lying. Surely.   
> “No, after Will left I fell asleep. Why?”   
> Phil looks away for a moment, internal debate on his face, and then finally he says, “there was the scent of another vampire outside the house.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter might answer a few questions you guys have, and ask a few more. Enjoy

He must fall asleep at some point because he is woken by the door slamming open with a loud crash. He jolts out of bed, expecting to see Matron screaming at him for being lazy, but it is Wilbur who flings himself into the room. His crimson eyes wide and worried. 

“Tommy!” he nearly shouts, he’s across the room in less than a blink, so fast that a breeze blasts into Tommy’s face. His hands are on Tommy’s cheeks, then combing through his hair, down his arms, pressing against his chest. 

“What--” Tommy belatedly wrestles away from Wilbur’s hands, batting them away with his own and curling his arms around himself. “What the hell?!” 

“Are you okay?” Wilbur demands, immediately reaching for him again, “Tommy, Tommy look at me are you okay?” 

“I’m  _ fine _ except for you giving me a fucking heart attack,” Tommy snaps. 

Wilbur relaxes, “you’re alright,” he says, his hand has come back to Tommy’s cheek. He pulls Tommy against his chest, “you’re alright.” He says, like he’s trying to convince himself of it. 

From Wilbur’s arms, Tommy can see the doorway. Phil is standing there, and he catches the swish of Technoblade’s cape leaving. What the hell. 

“What the hell?” 

“Did you hear anything last night?” Phil asks, “see anyone outside maybe?” 

Tommy’s heart freezes in his chest. Fuck did they know that Dream had come? Its only Phil and Wilbur, they won’t know that he’s lying. Surely. 

“No, after Will left I fell asleep. Why?” 

Phil looks away for a moment, internal debate on his face, and then finally he says, “there was the scent of another vampire outside the house.” 

That can’t be possible. There  _ was _ no other vampire outside last night. There was only Dream, and Dream is a Huntsman. 

Would Dream have vampire scent on him? How many other vampires are in the city? Was he hunting one of them and he spread the scent when he stopped outside of the house? 

No. 

The hand. 

Tommy holds back a shudder. The fucking  _ hand _ that Dream had, that he used to scratch Tommy with. It must be a vampire hand, Techno had gotten ten kinds of pissed when he smelled it. The scent of that must have lingered. 

He can’t tell them that though. Admitting that his Hunting mentor was outside telling him to spy on them and report back their weaknesses sounds like a  _ great _ way to get killed. 

“Oh. Did it...try to get in?” 

“Not yet.” Wilbur says, “but he will.” 

Tommy cranes his neck until he can see Wilbur’s face, there’s an expression of rage on his face. Fangs flash in the light as he speaks, “we need to get wards or something. Keep him safe.” 

“We will,” Phil says, “don’t worry. Either of you. We won’t let anything happen.” 

Phil gives Tommy a reassuring look, but Tommy is less worried about the vampire  _ outside _ and more worried about the ones in here with him. He knew in a vague way that vampires were possessive, everyone said it, Dream said it. 

This is the first time he’s seeing it for himself. Wilbur’s arms are like a cage around him, keeping him trapped against his too-still too-silent chest. Tommy tries to pull away and Wilbur’s grip only tightens. 

“Will,” he says, there’s a pleading note in his voice that he can’t quash. 

“Wilbur,” Phil says sternly, “he’s alright, we’re going to keep him safe. Let him go, you’re scaring him.” 

Wilbur releases him abruptly, “sorry, Tommy.” His hands reach out, but he checks them, “I just--” 

“The instincts can be hard to ignore,” Phil says, coming into the room to put a hand on Wilbur’s shoulder. “Especially for one as young as Will. He wouldn’t hurt you Tommy, he was just worried.” 

“Yeah…” Tommy says. “I--I know. Its Will.” 

Phil smiles at him, there’s a hint of sadness to it that Tommy doesn’t quite understand. He wonders if Phil isn’t so sure that Will won’t hurt him or something. It makes Tommy’s shoulders creep up around his ears. 

Dream had said that they wouldn’t hurt him, but they wouldn’t let him go either. Not unless they were dead. 

Really dead. 

Can he really be responsible for Wilbur dying a second time? Even if Will is a vampire now, he still remembers Tommy, says he still loves him. But does he love him as a toy, or as a person? 

“We’ll get you some breakfast,” Phil says, “you should eat, you’ve gone too long without it.” 

They slip out of the room, Phil’s hand still on Wilbur’s shoulder, like he’s the only thing keeping Will from running back to Tommy. Tommy lies back down, pulling the blankets up around himself. It feels strange to simply be lying in bed all day but he’s exhausted, still. Despite all the rest he got in between Dream leaving and Wilbur bursting in. 

Blood loss, he supposes. 

Or maybe the vampires did something, he thinks that Phil put him to sleep after Technoblade Thralled him. The memories are dim and vague, like the night that he’d come here. When he was under Wilbur’s Thrall. 

Its a terrifying thought, that they can simply look him in the eyes and he is helpless before them. How is he supposed to gather information on their weaknesses when they are so much more powerful than him? Do they even  _ have _ weaknesses? 

The door opens and the maid, Niki enters. “Hello Tommy,” she says, “you look better today.” 

“Hello,” he says reluctantly. He still doesn’t understand her, why she serves the vampires, why she isn’t afraid of them. 

She must be like him, he guesses, a possession that they won’t harm, but won’t let free either. He wonders if she’s made her peace with that, if she’ll be happy if Dream manages to free them. 

Niki sets down a tray of food, simple stuff, probably designed to be easy on his stomach, but still better fare than anything he’s had in his life. Even living with Dream he hadn’t gotten food as good as this. Something about not spoiling him. 

Dream had eaten nice things, but not Tommy. 

“You also need to drink this,” Niki says, fishing a vial out of her apron pocket. “I’d do it before you eat, the flavor’s terrible and it  _ lingers _ if you don’t have anything else to eat.” 

Tommy hesitantly takes the glass from her, the liquid is cherry red and faintly shimmering in the light. It is warm in his hand, like its just come off of the stove. “What is it?” 

“It’ll help you heal,” Niki says, “Technoblade makes them.” 

Magic, it has to be. Tommy’s heard about this sort of thing, potions to give strength, to make one’s eyesight better, to heal. That sort of thing never made it down to the orphanage though. 

This isn’t normal magic though, Technoblade made it, which means that its  _ vampire _ magic. 

“I don’t want it.” Tommy says, trying to hand the vial back. 

Niki refuses to take it. “It won’t hurt you,” she says. 

Tommy lowers his arm, fiddling with the bottle. “Okay.” 

Niki pats him on the head, seeming not to notice the way Tommy flinches away from the touch, “I’ll come back for the dishes in a bit. Eat slow, and don’t forget to drink that.” 

“I won’t.” 

The door clicks shut behind her. 

Tommy carefully sets the vial on the nightstand, there’s no way he’s drinking that, but maybe he can pour it out the window after he’s eaten. For now, though, the scent of the food is awakening his stomach and he is  _ ravenous _ . 

He makes it about halfway through the plate before the door opens. It isn’t Niki coming back though, or Wilbur, or Phil. Its Technoblade.

Tommy freezes, fork hovering in mid air. Technoblade lifts an eyebrow, his eyes fixed unfailingly on the potion that Tommy had set aside. “It isn’t a decoration,” he says in his rumbling voice, “you’re meant to drink it.” 

Tommy feels the fork slipping from his fingers and he hastily sets it down, looking at his lap. He can’t tell Technoblade that there is no way in hell that he’s drinking the potion, but he also can’t  _ drink the potion _ . 

From the corner of his eye, he can see Technoblade cross the room, once more sitting in the chair at Tommy’s bedside. They are silent. 

“Drink the potion,” Techoblade says, Tommy jumps at the sound of his voice, “then finish eating.” 

Tommy keeps his eyes firmly down, he’s not going to let himself get thralled again. He fidgets with the fork. 

Technoblade sighs, “its not dark magic,” he says, “there’s no blood in it, or anything else forbidden. Its literally just like the potions you can buy from any cleric’s shop.” 

Tommy remains still and silent. He’s not fucking looking up and he’s not fucking drinking that potion. 

“You’re being needlessly stubborn. Drink the potion, it will heal you. You need to be at your best now.”Technoblade says, Tommy doen’t move. “I don’t have to thrall you to make you drink it.” 

He leans forward and grabs the vial, holding it out to Tommy. “Drink.” 

Tommy shakes his head. 

Technoblade sighs, “this is why I don’t bother with humans,” he mutters, apparently to himself. “Too stubborn for their own good. Last chance before I force feed you.” 

The potion comes a bit closer. 

“Drink.” 

Tommy’s eyes flick up to Technoblade’s face against his will. There is frustration on the vampire’s face, but there is something that might, possibly,  _ maybe _ , be concern too. Tommy looks away before Technoblade can thrall him, down at the potion bottle. 

He takes it, because he  _ really _ doesn’t want Technoblade to force it down his throat. He fiddles with it in his hands, picking at the cork but not actually taking it out. 

“I’ve got all day,” Technoblade says, leaning back in the chair. He folds his hands on his chest and when Tommy glances back up, he’s closed his eyes like he’s going to fall asleep there.

Tommy wonders if he could dump out the potion without him noticing. Probably not, but he can dream. He glances to Techno again and finds the vampire watching him through one barely open eye. 

“Five.” Technoblade says. 

“What?” 

“Four.” 

Tommy’s eyes widen. “Wait, I’m just--” 

“Three.” 

He bites his lip, eyes darting from Technoblade to the bottle. 

“Two.” Technoblade shifts, sitting up. 

Tommy pulls the cork out of the bottle, but hesitates. 

“One.” Technoblade stands. 

Tommy throws his head back and drains the bottle in one go. 

Niki was right, it does taste fucking awful. Tommy gags, coughing a few times. Technoblade has sat down, at least. 

“Well,” he says, “That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” 

Tommy really wishes that Technoblade weren’t a vampire, and also fucking huge on top of that, he’d like to punch him. 

Technoblade smiles like he can read Tommy’s thoughts and leans back in the chair. “Can you read?” 

Of all the things Tommy expected a vampire to ask him while he’s at its mercy, a question about his education isn’t one of them. He cradles his arm close, its tingling and itching in a way that isn’t quite painful. 

“A little,” he answers because he’s pretty sure that there’s nothing Technoblade can do with that information. 

“Will teach you?” 

Its strange to hear Technoblade reference Wilbur so casually, like they’re friends instead of...well, whatever vampires are to each other. 

“Yeah.” Will had done his best with what they had, teaching them their letters from scavenged pamphlets and newspaper scraps. Tommy had never been a good student, but Wilbur had always said it was important so he’d done his best to pay attention. After Wilbur died, he’d given up on lessons entirely. 

Technoblade nods, “you should be able to get through this then, you can ask someone if you have trouble with the words.” He pulls a thick tome out of his jacket, its small, but bulging with pages. He sets it on the nightstand beside Tommy, title angled to where Tommy can read the faded gilding. 

_A_ _Treatise_ _of the Vampyre_

_ Penned By the Honored Karl Jacobs _

_ Distributed by KJ Printing House _

“Its a little out of date but its a good place to start,” Technoblade says, “The first few chapters are on how to identify and survive an encounter, I’d recommend you read those a few times over. You don’t have to read anything after that but it might clear things up.” 

Technoblade stands. 

“Wait,” Tommy says, the vampire pauses and looks at him over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised. “Why? Why would you give me a book on how to kill you?” 

“Because you’re being hunted,” Technoblade says, his voice low and serious, “as long as you’re in this house you’re under my protection, and if I left you ignorant to how to protect yourself then I would be failing that.” A smirk touches his lips, “besides, I don’t think I have much to worry about from a little thing like you.” 

Tommy sputters, offended, but Technoblade slips out of the room with a faint laugh. 

Tommy finishes his breakfast and pulls the book closer to himself. The text is  _ tiny _ and cramped on the page, the book could probably be double this size if they’d used a bigger typeset to print it. 

The words are all spelled weird, and a lot of them Tommy has to sound out in his head, but by the time Niki comes back for his tray, he’s made it through the first page. “Oh,” she says, “that old thing. That brings back memories.” 

“You’ve read this?” Tommy asks. He hasn’t let himself think about being under Technoblade’s protection, its too weird, too...kind. He doesn’t know what to do with a vampire’s kindness. Especially not when he’s supposed to be gathering information to kill them. 

“Techno made sure of it,” Niki says, “even gave me some gear to fight if I ever need to.” She rolls up the sleeve of her dress to reveal a silver blade strapped to her arm. “I’ve started wearing it around since, you know.” her eyes flick to his arm. 

“How is that doing by the way? You drank the potion right?” 

“Yeah,” Tommy says, a little bitterly, “I did.” It hasn’t done anything bad to him yet, aside from making his arm feel weird. Maybe it was just a healing potion. 

“Let me see,” Niki says, reaching for his arm. He holds it out to her and she cradles his wrist in her warm palm as she unwraps the bandages. Tommy stares as the strips of cloth fall away to show his arm. No longer marred by deep cuts, but instead nearly closed scars. “Oh that looks great,” Niki says. “You’ll probably be up and about in no time!” 

“What the hell,” Tommy whispers, mostly to himself. 

“You’ve never been healed by potion before? Its strange, isn’t it?” 

“You could say that again,” Tommy mutters. His eyes fall back to the book. Technoblade hasn’t just let  _ him _ read it, but Niki too, and she seems to be the only member of staff around the manor. “Why are you here? You’re a human, aren’t you scared of...them?” His eyes flick to the door. 

Niki smiles at him gently and sits on the edge of the bed, “I was at first, but they’re not like the vampires you’ve heard about, they’re kind. Even Techno, he seems grumpy but he’s just old.” 

“Old?” He doesn’t look older than his twenties. 

“ _ Old _ .” Niki confirms. “He’s one of, if not  _ the _ oldest vampire in the city.” 

“But Phil--” 

“Looks older, yeah, but aging doesn’t work the same way for them. Techno’s got about a century on him.” 

“Holy shit.” 

Niki laughs, “you get used to it.” 

“How did you meet them?”

Niki’s smile fades, “I was new to the city,” she says, “Just moved here from far away and I didn’t know where the dangerous parts were. I wandered into a ghoul’s nest. I should have died, but Techno saved me, and healed me, and offered me a place to stay.” She smiles, almost fondly, “I had to twist his arm to get him to let me help out around here.” 

What the  _ fuck _ . 

His confusion must show on his face because Niki throws her head back and laughs, “you’ll see Tommy,” she says, “they’re not like the stories. They’ll do right by you if you do right by them.” 

He barely notices her slipping out of the room. He cradles his now healed arm to his chest. They’ll do right by him if he does right by them, but what will they do when they find out that he’s their enemy, that he’s betrayed them? 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Would it be so bad? To be their possession, if they would at least love him? Treat him kindly? Its better than anyone else has done in his life. Dream, the orphanage. Wilbur was the one who was kind to him before, maybe he would be kind still, even after everything. He was worried when he came in earlier. 
> 
> But that is without knowing that Tommy is a hunter, that Dream has commanded him to betray them. Can he really do it? 
> 
> If he simply ignores Dream the next time he comes by, will Dream think he’s dead and give up? Or will he break in and reclaim Tommy for his own?
> 
> No, no. He’s letting Niki get into his head. They’re vampires. Everyone knows that vampires are evil. They don’t love, they just kill. They’re vampires, they’re undead, they have to be exterminated. That’s why the Huntsmen exist and Tommy’s one of them now. 
> 
> Even if he didn’t get a choice in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter ten folks!!! Eight more to go and we're through with the main fic! I've got the prequels lined up and ready and Maddie has the sequel in the works! Enjoy!

He goes back to reading once Niki has left. He struggles his way through the next page of the book, trying not to imagine Dream using any of these weaknesses against the vampires. Against Wilbur. 

Would it be so bad? To be their possession, if they would at least love him? Treat him kindly? Its better than anyone else has done in his life. Dream, the orphanage. Wilbur was the one who was kind to him before, maybe he would be kind still, even after everything. He was worried when he came in earlier. 

But that is without knowing that Tommy is a hunter, that Dream has commanded him to betray them. Can he really do it? 

If he simply ignores Dream the next time he comes by, will Dream think he’s dead and give up? Or will he break in and reclaim Tommy for his own?

No, no. He’s letting Niki get into his head. They’re vampires. Everyone knows that vampires are evil. They don’t love, they just kill. They’re vampires, they’re undead, they have to be exterminated. That’s why the Huntsmen exist and Tommy’s one of them now. 

Even if he didn’t get a choice in it. 

He turns back to the book. 

He wonders why Dream didn’t have a copy of this, why he didn’t even ask if Tommy could read, why he only trained him with the staff and didn’t actually tell him anything about hunting. But no, he’s just a kid, Dream has his own methods, Tommy isn’t to question him. He just has to do what Dream says. 

*** 

He’s made it about two pages into the book when there is a knock on his door and Wilbur pokes his head in. He looks hesitant, like he’s not sure he should be there. 

Tommy isn’t sure if he should either. 

“Hey,” Will says quietly, “just...wanted to see if you needed anything. Niki said your arm was better.” 

“Yeah,” Tommy says, looking down at the book but not really seeing the words. He runs a finger over the healed scars on his arm. He flicks his eyes up to Wilbur. 

The silence stretches long between them, stilted in a way that its never been before. They had plenty of fights when Tommy was younger, but none of them have been like this. Like there’s a great big rift between them. 

There is, Tommy supposes. 

Everyone always talked about ‘til death do us part’ but that was always for marriages. He didn’t know it was the same for brothers. 

“Are you making it through the book okay?” Wilbur asks, “its got some hard words.” 

“I’m f--”Tommy stops himself, biting his lip. “There’s some hard ones.” 

Wilbur takes a hesitant step into the room, “yeah?” 

“And they printed it stupidly tiny,” Tommy mutters.

Will laughs, “yeah, they did.” 

Tommy should tell him to leave. Wilbur made his choice, and Tommy had his made for him. They’re on opposite sides of a war older than them, Tommy is going to betray the vampires and get away from them as soon as he can. Wilbur is a vampire, not his brother. He is only a possession to them. 

But he is treated better as a possession than he was as an orphan, as an apprentice. 

“Could you...help me?” 

The tension seeps out of Wilbur’s muscles, “I’d be happy to,” he says. 

They work through the pages together, just like when he was little. Wilbur tells him a few stories here and there, things that he’s learned, things about being a vampire. Weaknesses that Tommy’s mind tucks away even though he isn’t sure he wants to go back to Dream with them. 

Its harder to be scared of what Dream will do to Tommy for failing him when Dream isn’t here looming over him. When there’s just his brother, different but still the same, laughing beside him about some prank he’d pulled on Technoblade. 

Tommy laughs with him and for a moment, lets himself forget the years and the pain between this moment and the last time Wilbur had been helping him read. 

They’ve all but forgotten the book when Phil pokes his head into the room. “You two sound like you’re having fun,” he says, and there’s a soft sort of smile on his face. Like he’s actually happy that they’re getting along. 

Tommy forces his smile to stay on his face, forces himself not to wish that things could be different, easier. But his eyes keep finding the red of Wilbur and Phil’s eyes, his skin feels how cool Wilbur’s shoulder is against his. 

“There’s lunch if you’re up to it,” Phil says, ignorant to Tommy’s thoughts, “think you’re up to coming down to the table with us or do you want to eat here?” 

Tommy doesn’t want to eat with vampires--do they even eat? Or will they just drink glasses of blood at that table? Or will they be having  _ him _ for lunch?--but Wilbur is already nodding.”Come on,” he says, “you’ve been stuck in here for too long. It’ll be good to stretch your legs.” and he’s smiling, bright and familiar. 

“Sure,” Tommy says even though he shouldn’t. Even though he should come up with some excuse to stay behind. 

His heart starts to race and he knows that Phil can hear it, maybe even Wilbur, but he smiles and gets out of bed. This could be his chance to see the rest of the house, find a way to get out. He could escape, he realizes. Leave both the vampires and Dream behind him. 

Its an impossible dream, the vampires will find him no matter where he goes. 

It would be worth it to try though, right? 

He bites his lip as the vampires lead him out of his room, through the house. Its an old place, probably, all these fancy manors are always old as shit. This one’s got vampires living in it though, one of the oldest vampires in the city Niki had said. His house is probably older than shit. 

Its not as gaudy as Dream’s house was, there’s not gold and ivory and marble all over the place. Not even paintings of stuffy old guys in stuffy old clothes on the walls. To Tommy’s delight, they do actually go past the doorway on their way to the dining room--why rich people need a whole room to eat in Tommy isn’t sure but whatever--its not even that far from his room. 

If he waits until the vampires all leave again, he could be out of here in less than a minute. Find some place smelly enough that the vampires won’t be able to track his scent. Wilbur had said that garlic was just too pungent for their senses, maybe he’d just slather himself in that. Spend the rest of his life with garlic in his pockets. 

For now though, he is going to lunch with vampires. 

This is his life now. 

Technoblade is already sitting at the table when they arrive, his nose deep in a massive book. 

“No books at the table,” Phil says, like he’s scolding a child and not somebody that Niki said was a  _ literal century _ older than him. 

Technoblade glances up over the top of it, his expression annoyed until his eyes land on Tommy. “Really?” He asks, seemingly to himself, “I didn’t think you’d go for it. I guess you’re braver than I thought. Or dumber.” He shuts the book with a thump and sets it aside. 

“Please pretend you have manners,” Phil sighs, he takes a seat at Technoblade’s right hand and Wilbur guides Tommy over to the vampire’s left. He thankfully takes the chair closer to Technoblade. 

“What are we having?” Wilbur asks, and that kicks off what could be a discussion over any dinner table. Aside from the fanciness of the food. For once, Dream actually taught Tommy something useful though so he at least knows how to eat without being rude. 

Usually he wouldn’t care but Dream hadn’t tolerated poor manners and he’d been all to happy to beat the lesson into Tommy’s head in the most literal sense. Matron had been as well, but Dream hits a lot harder than her. He doesn’t want to find out what the vampires will do if he uses the wrong fucking fork. 

Not that they seem to care, he realizes. Because WIlbur isn’t using a damn fork at all, he’s using a fucking  _ spoon _ like a  _ madman _ . Technoblade looks absolutely ludicrous with the dainty silverware in his hands and he looks like he would much prefer to just use his  _ hands _ . Phil is the only one remotely near correct and he’s jabbing his fork at Technoblade while he makes a point about something-or-other like he’s going to stab someone with the damn thing. 

Niki eats with them even though none of Dream’s staff even seemed to like being in the same  _ house  _ as the man, let alone the same room. She talks just as loudly and freely as the vampires, arguing with them, threatening them playfully. Like they’re friends. 

Tommy quickly finds his appetite gone. 

He doesn’t know what to fucking  _ do _ . Run, stay, betray Dream, betray the vampires. No matter what he does, he’ll piss somebody off. 

“Tommy?” Wilbur asks quietly, “are you okay?” 

“I’m fine,” Tommy says but even he can hear his voice is choked, tight. Wrong. Definitely not fine. 

Wilbur gives him a look that clearly says he’s not convinced. Tommy looks back to his plate and the half eaten food that’s better than anything he’s eaten outside of this place. He misses Tubbo, misses the simplicity of before, where they would just struggle to find something to eat, not struggle to find the right thing to do in a game too complex for him to even begin to understand. 

“Are you tired?” Phil asks, and Tommy realizes that he has everyone’s attention. “You can go back up to your room if you want Tommy.” 

“...yeah. Thanks.” He says quietly. He stands up and walks away as quickly as he can without running. Tears burn at his eyes but he forces them back. He isn’t a dumb baby, he isn’t going to cry. 

Even if he really, really wants to. 

*** 

Phil pokes his head into the room and knocks a little bit later. Tommy looks up from the stupid fucking book that he’s still trying to fucking read and sees that he’s carrying a plate. 

“Hey, I noticed you didn’t finish eating. Sometimes those potions can fuck with your stomach, are you doing okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” 

The last fucking thing he wants is to talk with the fucking vampires  _ more _ but Phil steps into the room and sits in the chair. 

“You sure?” 

Tommy stubbornly keeps his eyes on the book, “yeah. Thanks for the food.” 

Phil sighs, its a sound Tommy’s familiar with. Usually it means that he’s on the last fucking straw before whatever adult he’s talking to decides that they’ve had enough of his ‘attitude’. He braces. 

But Phil doesn’t yell like Matron, doesn’t loom in suffocating silence like Dream. Instead he folds down, elbows on his knees, hands loosely folded together between them. 

“I know this is all very scary for you, Tommy. I’m sorry that there isn’t anything we can do to make things easier on you. We have a meeting with the council first thing tonight, you’ll be able to talk to some other people about this, alright? Maybe they can help you more than we can.” He hesitates, like he’s not sure if he should continue, but he must decide that its important because he takes a deep breath. 

“If you want to stay with someone else until we get this situation wrapped up, you can. Will and Techno might not like it but if that’s what it takes to make you feel safe I’ll talk them around to it.” 

The world surely must freeze in that moment, or he must have somehow slipped into another one because Tommy could swear that Phil, a vampire, just offered to let him go. Vampires don’t...do that. They just  _ don’t _ . They’re possessive, everyone knows that. They don’t just  _ let people go _ . 

They keep them, or more often, they kill them. 

“What  _ is _ the situation?” Tommy asks to distract himself. Because he can’t think about this. Can’t think about what this means for him. If he isn’t the vampires’ possession, then they really do care. 

Phil sighs again, but its not a frustrated sigh, more of a tired one. “I don’t imagine you know much about Underworld politics, but the long and short of it is that Techno’s sire has shown back up. He never claimed Techno after he turned him, but he must have been powerful, and everyone’s assumed that he fell into the Slumber ages ago. Something must have woke him up though.” 

“And you think he’s the one that attacked me,” Tommy says. Pieces fall into place, Dream scratched him with that fucking  _ disembodied hand _ , and that must have been from Technoblade’s sire. 

“The council will sort this out,” Phil says, “don’t worry.” 

“Right,” Tommy says. “I won’t.” 

Phil nods, “you might try catching some sleep, we’ll be up late tonight.” 

“I’ll try,” Tommy promises, but he doubts he’s going to get so much as a wink. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He sighs and twitches the curtains away from the window. The sun is starting to dip beneath the horizon. Anxiety churns in his gut, they’ll be leaving soon. To go to the Council. Probably some fucking Underworld council, there’ll be more vampires. He’ll only have Technoblade, Phil, and Wilbur to protect him. 
> 
> What if there’s a demon, what if there’s The Demon? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [shakes bucket] come get Vamp SBI family shit. 
> 
> Bit of a build up chapter, but shit's about to get real fam.

He struggles his way through a few more pages of the book, but between the thoughts and worries and questions swirling around his mind he rereads more than he retains. He has no idea what fucking Council Phil was talking about. He’s heard about the Hunter’s council, of course, but he really fucking doubts that the vampires are talking to them. 

He paces around the room a bit, wishing that he felt brave enough to wander around the house. At Dream’s manor at least nobody cared where he went or what he did. He may as well have been another piece of furniture as long as he didn’t go into the “master’s study” as the servants all called it. 

He can’t go five minutes without a vampire hanging around him in this place. If it weren’t vampires it might be...nice. He’s lonely, without Tubbo. Without someone or something to distract him he gets too caught up in his thoughts. 

He sighs and twitches the curtains away from the window. The sun is starting to dip beneath the horizon. Anxiety churns in his gut, they’ll be leaving soon. To go to the Council. Probably some fucking Underworld council, there’ll be more vampires. He’ll only have Technoblade, Phil, and Wilbur to protect him. 

What if there’s a demon, what if there’s  _ The _ Demon? 

The one everyone says runs the Underworld? 

No, Technoblade may be old or whatever but surely he’s not  _ that _ fucking important. He’s got  _ WIlbur _ in his coven for Prime’s sake. Wilbur was a factory worker, some dirt-low kid from a dirt-low part of town with two more dirt-low kids relying on him. Why would some big important vampire care about him? 

Tommy watches the sun dip lower and lower, until the lamp-lighters come through, night has officially come. He swallows hard, wishing that he had a silver dagger, like Niki. 

A knock comes from the door. 

Tommy takes a deep breath, “come in.” 

Wilbur pokes his head in and smiles on seeing Tommy up. “Hey,” he says, holding up a pile of clothes, “got some stuff for you to change into, we’ve got to be all formal if we’re going to the council.” He pulls a face. 

Tommy notices that he’s all dressed up as well, his hair combed, wearing a waistcoat and white shirt. Ugh. Formal wear. 

Tommy reluctantly looks through the pile, its not  _ too _ bad, for formal shit. With a sigh he pulls on the clothes. They don’t fit perfectly, like the things Dream had him wear did. They’re a little long, a little wide. 

“Sorry,” Wilbur says, “Niki did what she could but the meeting got moved up on account of..you know.” he gestures at the window where Dream had stood. 

“Its fine,” Tommy says, honestly he’s neve been more glad for clothes that don’t fit right. It was creepy as fuck when Dream just  _ had _ that shit. 

Once he’s dressed, Wilbur looks him over, straightening his cuffs and tweaking his collar. He smiles, all soft and fond, like a ditz. “Look at you,” he says, “all grown up.” 

“Fuck off.” 

Wilbur laughs, ruffling his hair, “come on, Techno always gets anal about leaving for shit. If we’re even a few seconds late he’ll never shut up.” 

Tommy takes a deep breath and forces a smile on his face, “I definitely don’t want to hear that, let’s go.” 

Wilbur smiles at him and leads the way downstairs. 

Techno and Phil are waiting for them by the door, also dressed formally, but they’ve got cloaks with hoods pulled up. “Took you long enough.” Techno grunts as they hit the bottom of the stairs. 

“It was like five minutes,” Wilbur says, “you’re fucktillion years old, you never learned any patience?” 

“Watch it.” Technoblade rumbles, but there’s no real heat in the threat. 

“Children,” Phil says mildly, adjusting the cuff of his gloves. 

“What, are you going to turn this carriage around?” Technoblade mutters mutinously. 

“I might.” 

“We’re not even  _ in _ the carriage,” Wilbur puts in. 

“And who’s fault is that?” Technoblade declares triumphantly. 

“All of yours,” Phil says, “since you’re standing in the entryway arguing like children. Could we leave sometime before the sun rises?” 

Will and Technoblade slink out the door in sullen silence. 

Tommy watches them go and his utter bafflement must show on his face because Phil laughs, “you’ll get used to it.” he promises, and guides Tommy out the door. 

The carriage is waiting for them by the front steps, pulled by single dark brown horse. Techno stands by its head, petting down the white blaze on its face. Tommy stares for a second, he thought that animals  _ hated _ vampires. 

Maybe this horse is just really dumb. 

NIki’s sitting in the driver’s seat, hands loose on the reins. “Hey Tommy,” she says, still friendly and chipper as always. 

He waves mutely and Phil directs him into the carriage. Wilbur is already inside, his feet propped up on the opposite seat. Tommy sits beside him and Phil bats Will’s feet off the cushion.

“It shouldn’t take us long to get there,” Will tells Tommy, “it might take a bit to get things figured out,” he rolls his eyes, “meetings take  _ forever _ when you’re dealing with these people.”

Technoblade pulls himself into the carriage--the thing damn near tips when he does, Tommy swears. He has no idea how that one horse is gonna pull the carriage with Technoblade in it, but it does and they’re off with a rattling clatter. 

The last time he’d heard that sound he’d been on his way to his first hunt with Dream, only a few days ago. His arm aches at the memory. 

Unlike his two rides with Dream, this time, the trip is far from silent. Wilbur teases Technoblade into an argument about where the boundary of the carriage is and who is in who’s space. Phil chides them in a tired but tolerant tone, Niki chimes in from the front a few times. 

Tommy sits silently and watches because what the hell. What the  _ fuck _ . 

Vampires are just so fucking weird. 

Finally, the carriage pulls to a stop, “we’re here.” Niki calls, her voice is a bit subdued. 

Fuck if that doesn’t pull back all the anxiety that Tommy just let go of. 

The vampires are quieter as they leave as well, keeping Tommy in the middle of their little group. As much as he doesn’t trust them, he’s glad of it. They’re in some fancy district, in front of some massive fuck off building with pillars and stone statues and shit. 

He kind of thought they’d be going to some backwater cave. How many vampires are  _ in  _ the fucking city? 

“Stick close,” Wilbur murmurs, draping his arm over Tommy’s shoulders. 

Tommy isn’t gonna fucking argue. 

They climb the steps and enter the building to find it absolutely fucking  _ full _ of hunters. There’s got to be at least four or five of the masked fuckers just by the door. Tommy’s heart leaps into his throat, going into overdrive. 

Fuck. This is an ambush or something, and he’s right in the fucking middle of it. Will the hunters know that he’s not a vampire? Their silver blades will kill him just the same as the undead. 

“Its alright,” Will says, leaning down to murmur in his ear. “They’re not going to attack us.” 

And they fucking…. _ don’t _ . The hunters stand around talking, occasionally throwing glances at the vampires, but they don’t so much as utter a threat. What the  _ hell _ . 

Tommy looks around the sea of green cloaks and white masks. None of them have Dream’s familiar build. 

Wilbur nudges him along to a set of engraved doors. They open before the group, revealing a room dominated by a massive table. At the head of that table is a fucking demon. 

At the head of the table is  _ The fucking Demon _ . 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, two nights ago, Wilbur goes out hunting,” the demon begins. “Then he comes back covered in blood and babbling about some injured kid.” Here the demon’s gaze once again fixes on Tommy, evaluating, judging.   
> Tommy holds back a shudder.   
> “And you think the vampire that attacked him was your sire?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys were right, The Demon is indeed BBH, I probably should have smushed that chapter onto this one but I couldn't resist the cliffhanger lol.   
> I want to say again how much Maddie and I appreciate y'all's comments, kudos, bookmarks, etc. on this fic! I'm so glad that you guys are enjoying it! Someone offered to make fanart and Maddie and I were legit crying and then I think I forgot to reply to them because I am in fact a disaster human. Suffice to say if anyone is inspired by this AU to write/draw/sing/create something we'd love to see it!

The demon is draped in darkness, seated on a chair that looks more like a throne for having it sit there. Its eyes are blank, gleaming with featureless white light as they stare at him from the depths of the black cloak. 

“Techno,” the demons says, its voice is surprisingly high and a little nasal. It inclines its head, horns catching the light. Its eyes fix on Tommy, “and company.” 

“Bad,” Techno replies with a deeper bow of his head. Wilbur pulls Tommy’s arm and he realizes that he and Phil are kneeling and he quickly drops to his knees too because he  _ does fucking not _ want to offend this thing. 

“This is the human then?” the demon asks. 

“Yes,” Techno says, glancing over his shoulder and motioning for Tommy to stand up. Its the last fucking thing Tommy wants to do but he climbs shakily to his feet. Wilbur and Phil stand as well. 

The demon’s full attention lands on him with the weight of a fucking mountain. Tommy wants to run but his entire body seems frozen by the regard of this being. He just  _ knows _ that this is something  _ old _ , older than old. Older than ancient. This demon had been laughing from the shadows the day the first monkeys fell out of their trees and started thinking about walking on two legs. 

The demon smiles at him like it knows the effect it has and then opens its mouth.”Hi! Tommy right?” 

“I--yeah?” 

The demon’s eyes squint as it smiles, “nice to meet you!” 

“...you...too?” 

The demon tilts its head, blinking its eyes like a cat content in the sun. “You’re cute.” 

Tommy….doesn’t actually know how to respond to that. 

Technoblade huffs a quiet laugh, “where’s Skeppy?” he asks, pulling out a chair at the table. 

“Around,” the demon waves a hand vaguely. “Getting food I think. You’re early, I don’t think anyone else is.” 

Behind them, the door opens and a man steps in. He’s carrying a tray full of grapes and cheese in one hand, and a bottle of wine and two glasses in the other. “Oh, you guys are already here,” he says mildly, like he’s completely unphased to step into a room with a coven of vampires and  _ a fucking demon _ wearing nothing but….

Well, normal clothes are under there  _ somewhere _ but the man is completely and utterly  _ covered  _ in jewelry. Delicate chains of gold and silver, glittering jewels and rich stones. The kind of shit that pickpockets  _ dream _ of. The man must be wearing at least three households worth of jewels what the  _ fuck. _

He clatters his way across the room to the demon’s side, setting his burdens down and taking a seat at its right hand. He scoots the chair so that its right up against the demon’s and sits in it leaning halfway into the demons fucking lap. What the  _ fuck?? _

The demon leans into him, making an inhuman rumble in its chest. At first Tommy thinks its growling and he’s about to see this dude get absolutely  _ ripped apart _ but the demon fucking rubs its cheek on the guy’s head like a friendly cat and Tommy realizes that its fucking  _ purring. _

_ This _ is the fucking Demon of the Deep? The fucking Ruler of the Underworld? The thing that half the goddamn kids in this city wake up from nightmares of? The thing that parents use to get their kids to behave?? 

Tommy ate his vegetables in fear of  _ this fucker? _

“Skeppy,” Techno says pleasantly as Phli finds a seat beside him. “Nice to see you again.” 

“You too old man,” Skeppy--apparently?--chirps happily. 

Tommy looks to Wilbur, surely he gets that all of this is literally fucking insane. Wilbur smiles at him in an understanding way but offers absolutely no explanation. He also doesn’t bring them to the table to sit down. 

Tommy hates it when the grownups talk over him, but for once in his life he’s not going to fucking interrupt. 

“That’s the pleasantries then,” The demon says, “on to business I suppose?” He pulls a grape off of the stem but doesn’t eat it himself, instead offering it to Skeppy, who takes it happily. 

What the  _ fuck _ is with this guy, he isn’t a fucking vampire, his eyes are blue. He’s just a totally normal fucking human letting a demon, letting  _ The Demon _ feed him grapes and cheese while they have a serious discussion with a coven of vampires. 

This shit never happened at the orphanage. The weirdest thing that happened there was fucking Matron not yelling for once. 

“So, two nights ago, Wilbur goes out hunting,” the demon begins, plucking another grape from the stem, but apparently this grape is fucking  _ sub par _ or some shit because he makes a face at it and sets it aside. “Then he comes back covered in blood and babbling about some injured kid.” Here the demon’s gaze once again fixes on Tommy, evaluating, judging. 

Tommy holds back a shudder. 

“And you think the vampire that attacked him was your sire?” 

“I know that scent,” Technoblade says, “I hunted him for centuries.” 

“He’s been  _ gone _ for centuries,” the demon says. “Gone to that sweet sweet slumber in a hole somewhere.” 

“Vampires have woken up before.” 

“Rarely.” The demon pours a glass of wine and hands it to Skeppy. 

“But its  _ happened _ ,” Technoblade insists, leaning forward, hands braced on the table. 

“Techno,” Phil cautions, putting a hand on Technoblade’s arm. 

The demon sighs and nudges Skeppy until he’s actually sitting in his own fucking chair and stands up. And up. And fucking  _ up _ . 

Tommy takes an instinctive step back because there is no goddamn way that he is just  _ standing there _ like a fucking  _ loon _ as his actual childhood nightmare stalks towards him. Wilbur catches him around the shoulders with one arm, shooting him a warning look. 

“Don’t worry,” The demon smiles and Tommy really fucking wishes he wouldn’t because now he’s close enough to see the  _ goddamn teeth _ on this fucker. “I just want to see you.” He reaches out with one massive, fucking  _ clawed _ hand. 

Tommy’s mind immediately jumps to the childish chant of  _ ‘you see with your eyes not your hands _ ’ but he doesn’t think that’s going to even  _ being _ to fucking fly here. Wilbur steps away, like a fucking  _ traitor _ and the demon’s hand hovers over him. Tommy braces himself, for what he doesn’t fucking know. 

He isn’t prepared for the  _ cold. _ Like a fucking blanket of ice draped itself around him, he gasps, eyes popping open and he finds the demon’s hand hovering in the air in front of him. The air between them shimmers and twists like its fucking fabric and in the folds Tommy catches a glimpse of a star filled void. Pale yellow stone, obsidian spires taller than any mountain, purple eyes shining in the darkness. 

The demon lowers his hand and the room suddenly feels too hot. Like he’s taking a hot bath in the middle of a goddamn heatwave. The demon is frowning. 

“It is him,” Technoblade says, but there isn’t any victory in the words, “I was right, wasn’t I?” 

“You were.” 

“Fuck,” Phil mutters.

“Language,” the demon chides almost idly. 

What the goddamn fuck.

The demon turns back to him, “why don’t you go to the Glade or something. I think Sam wanted to see you anyway, and this isn’t a discussion for human ears.” 

Tommy wants to argue immediately that he isn’t some snot nosed brat to be sent away from the grownups table. But considering the grown ups here are a coven of fucking vampires and the goddamn ruler of the underworld, he keeps his trap shut.

“I’ll show you the way,” Skeppy says, clattering his way over. How the hell he doen’t tip over will all that shit layered on him Tommy doesn’t fucking know. At least it’ll be impossible to lose the fucker. 

He follows Skeppy out of the room and is abruptly reminded that he’s in the goddamn middle of some kind of hunter meetup or some shit. Everywhere he looks there’s a fucking Huntsman standing around. “Why aren’t they...you know.” He tilts his head in the direction of the room. 

“Hunting them? Panicking?” Skeppy laughs, “things are a bit more complicated behind the scenes than the Huntsmen tell the public. Get Technoblade to tell you about it sometime, he was kind of the pioneer of the whole system.” 

Of fucking course he was. 

Skeppy leads him to another set of fucking fancy double doors, this one is somehow  _ even bigger _ than the last set. An entire carriage could drive through these and not even touch the sides. 

Skeppy opens the doors like they don’t weigh anything and reveals a forest glen. Like a section of the woods just decided to plop its ass in the middle of a goddamn building like it had been there all along. 

There isn’t even a ceiling, its literally just an overgrown courtyard. Like nobody’s tended the thing in a hundred years.

“Wait,” Tommy stutters, “is this the fucking  _ headquarters? _ ” 

There’s only one building in the city that would have a section of untouched forest in the middle. 

Skeppy smiles at him like he’s just pulled the best fucking trick. “Yes. Now, Sam’s probably in the middle somewhere, good luck.” 

He turns and starts clattering his way back down the hall. “Where are you going?” Tommy demands, “I thought they didn’t want humans in there.” 

Skeppy laughs, “I don’t count,” he says in a weirdly smug sort of way. 

Fucking weirdo. 

Tommy turns back to the...what did the demon call it? The Glade? 

Just like there’s only one building that would even  _ have _ this place, there’s only one being that could  _ inhabit _ it. Supposedly the Demon’s most ancient enemy, humanity’s great protector, the one who runs and funds the Huntsmen. 

And apparently he wants to see Tommy. 

Great. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maddie also wants u guys to know that she loves Demon BBH and his human Skeppy   
> Which I assume is why they're like, the main characters of her sequel lmaoo


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stag whuffs, and its warm breath washes over Tommy’s face, stirring his hair even though there’s a healthy distance between them. Then the stag turns and walks deeper into the forest, off of the path, and Tommy knows that he is meant to follow. 
> 
> This is exactly how people go fucking missing, but Tommy steps off of the path and onto the grass and follows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go guys! Sam has arrived!!

Tommy steps onto the grass and nothing tries to kill him so he considers it a good start. He wonders, vaguely, if he should take his shoes off or something, but he’s not going to get his feet all cut up for nothing. 

There’s a dirt path leading into the woods and Tommy follows it carefully. You’re not supposed to go wandering off paths in woods, he’s pretty sure, especially not magic woods. “Hello?” he calls into the quiet. 

A bird calls somewhere and flutters overhead. He flinches, ducking away from it like its dive bombed at him. His heart races in his chest, he can feel it beating under his palm. He forces his hand down. 

“Fucking stupid,” he mutters, “brids and shit.” 

The forest is draped in mist, he can barely see five feet ahead of him, much less well enough to see whatever ancient spirit or whatever it is that runs the Huntsman. That kind of shit was only whispered about in the orphanage on the darkest nights, when everyone was too scared for ghost stories. 

They’d all said that the spirit was a good thing, that it liked humans and protected them. But there are vampires wandering around the Huntsmen’s headquarters.  _ The Demon _ is just sitting around in one of their meeting rooms. The kids at the orphanage don’t know  _ shit _ about magical shit. 

Neither does Tommy, and he’s really starting to get fucking tired of that. 

A stick cracks and he whips around, staring with wide eyes into the mist. “Who’s there?” 

No answer. 

Fucking fuck. 

Shit. 

He looks back the way he came, debating turning back. The doors are fucking gone, the  _ goddamn path is fucking gone _ . He’s surrounded by towering trees and concealing mists. 

There is only the way forward. 

His breath comes in shaky gasps, the air feels thick and cold. He curls his arms tightly around himself and goes deeper into the woods. 

“This is how people go fucking missing,” he mutters to himself. But he’s already  _ gone _ missing, hasn’t he? Nobody from the orphanage knows where the  _ fuck _ he is, Dream probably has no idea where he is either. Would he even care if Tommy never came back to that window? 

Tommy stops as a thought suddenly occurs to him. 

If the Huntsmen are okay with vampires….why is Dream hunting them? 

In the mist, a branch moves, Tommy spins to face it and finds himself staring not at a tree but a  _ massive  _ fucking deer. A stag, like the kind engraved on fancy people’s doors and shit. Antlers branching over its brow, a deep shaggy mane around its neck, not made from fur, but moss and tiny white flowers. Its antlers, now that Tommy looks, are covered in leaves, like they’re parts of a living tree. 

The stag steps forward on silent, delicate hooves and Tommy takes a step back. This is no normal fucking deer. Even without all the flowers and shit, in its dark eyes, he can see that same  _ ancientness _ that The Demon had. 

The Demon might have been there when the first monkeys were falling out of the tree, but this thing might have  _ been _ the fucking tree. 

The stag whuffs, and its warm breath washes over Tommy’s face, stirring his hair even though there’s a healthy distance between them. Then the stag turns and walks deeper into the forest, off of the path, and Tommy knows that he is meant to follow. 

This is  _ exactly _ how people go fucking missing, but Tommy steps off of the path and onto the grass and follows. 

They cross a small brook, walking deeper--impossibly deep, there is no way that all of this fits inside a courtyard--into the forest until they are at the base of a massive tree. It is draped in the same moss and flowers as the stag, its branches are the same sort of smooth as its antlers. 

The stag lays down at the roots of the tree and Tommy knows that he has been invited to sit. Hesitantly, he does, finding a soft cushion of moss and settling down with his knees pulled up to his chest. 

“You are Tommy,” the stag says, only suddenly it isn’t a stag, its a man. He’s shirtless, sitting crossed legged on the ground, ivy and flowers twinging around his forehead into a crown, draping down his shoulders. His hair is so green that the leaves blend with it, in some places it looks like his hair  _ is _ leaves. 

“I--yeah,” Tommy manages to say, his voice sounds small. He  _ feels _ small. 

The man smiles, “you may call me Sam.” 

That is the most  _ astoundingly mundane _ name for a magical forest spirit but Tommy isn’t going to fucking argue with the man...deer...tree? 

“Hi.” 

Sam blinks at him peacefully, “you do not need to be afraid,” he says, “I have long been a friend of humanity. I will not harm you.” 

“Uh...Thanks.” 

Sam nods, “you have been in much danger as of late, haven’t you?” 

“Yeah.” Tommy mutters, crossing his arms as if that will hide the scars, “you could say that.” 

“You have questions, you may ask them.” 

Tommy looks up to Sam’s face, but there is only patient expectation there. Well, he is tired of not knowing shit. “I--The hunters aren’t attacking the vampires, why?” 

Sam tilts his head, “the reasonable vampires are welcome in my city, so long as they obey my laws. In any ecosystem, an apex predator is required, to keep balance.” 

Tommy stares, “you just let them kill people?!” 

“No,” Sam says, a faintly amused smile curling his lips, “they do not kill so long as they are in my domain, that is the deal. But they do hunt, as long as both parties go home safely, I do not intervene, and neither do my Huntsmen. It is when rogue vampires enter the city that they become a problem.” 

His eyes rest on Tommy’s injured arm. “You have not told the vampires the full truth of your injury,” he says, his head tilts, “would you tell me?”

Tommy wants to shut his mouth, refuse to say anything, but...Sam runs the Huntsmen, surely he of all people would know what to do about Dream. “I got...adopted a month ago,” he begins quietly, “from the orphanage. It was a Huntsman, he said he wanted an apprentice.” 

He flicks his eyes to Sam’s face, there is a faint frown on his lips, but he doesn’t interrupt. 

“His name was Dream, he--” Tommy takes a shaky breath, “he trained me. And then he took me on a hunt. He said we were just going to get some ghouls. He was going to set a trap for them, and I was supposed to be the bait. He used this...hand to scratch my arm. That’s how I got injured. I don’t--I don’t know anything about Technoblade’s sire. I don’t know if he’s really back. I just--I don’t know what to do.” Tears burn in his eyes, threatening to wash down his cheeks but he can’t make himself stop talking. Like he’s been holding it in for too long and now that he’s let even a little bit of the story out he can’t stop the rest from following. 

“After Wilbur found me--” his breath hitches, “Dream came back. He said--he said I have to pretend to be friends with them. That he was going to get me out but he needed information first. He said the only way,” he has to gasp in another breath, his voice is trembling, it shouldn’t be. He shouldn’t be crying, like some fucking baby. He swallows. “He said the only way the vampires would let me go is if we killed them but--but Phil said if I wanted to stay with someone else I could. And I don’t want to kill Will, I just got him back.” 

He curls his arms around himself, “I don’t know what to do. Dream will be really mad if I don’t go back, but I don’t want to hurt Will, or Phil, or Technoblade. But I don’t want to be some toy for them either. I just wish none of this had happened.” 

A hand tilts his chin up and Tommy sees that Sam has somehow crossed the distance between them silently. “You have been through much, little one,” Sam murmurs, his face creased with soft sorrow,“it has caused you great distress.” He holds his arms out, “In such times many humans find comfort in a ‘hug’. Would you like one?” 

Its dumb, its so fucking dumb, but Tommy nods and Sam wraps his arms around him. He tucks his face into Sam’s neck and cries and listens to a heart that has been beating longer than he can imagine. 

When he’s cried himself out, Sam speaks, Tommy can feel his voice vibrating through his chest. “I do not know the names of all of my Hunters,” Sam says, “but I will seek out what information I can find about this ‘Dream’ he has done much against the creed of the order. I will ensure he does not trouble you further. In the meantime, if you wish it, you do not need to return to the vampires, however, I have known Technoblade’s coven for many centuries. They will not harm you, they are already greatly attached to you.” 

“They don’t know I was going to sell them out,” Tommy mutters. 

“That is something you should tell them,” Sam says, “but they will not shun you for it if you tell them what you have told me.” 

“In the meantime,” Sam says, one of his hands lifts away and Tommy watches as he rests it against the bark of the tree. “You are a lonely child, I would give you a gift that might relieve some of that burden.” 

He brings his hand back down, cupped gently as if it is holding something. He opens his hand in front of Tommy and reveals that he  _ is _ . There’s a tiny little...thing in his palm. It looks like a wood carving come to life, with a mossy coat and tiny flowers crowning its head. It rises onto its hind legs, rubbing at its face and yawning like it is waking up. 

“This is a Nook,” Sam explains, “It will watch over you.” 

Tommy holds out his hands to receive it and the Nook crawls over to him, purring as it rubs its face against his fingers. Faintly, he gets the feeling that its happy to meet him. 

“Now,” Sam says, “your brother is looking for you. It is time you returned to him.” 

And then Tommy is standing in the doorway of the Glen, staring out at the forest like he never fucking moved. He blinks, trying to understand what the  _ actual fuck _ just happened. Was it all a fucking hallucination? 

Something moves in his hand and he stares down at the Nook. 

Magic is so fucking weird. 

“Tommy!” Wilbur shouts behind him, “there you are! We’ve been waiting for you for hours.” 

“Hours?” Tommy asks, it felt like maybe ten minutes. 

Wilbur reaches him and wraps an arm around his shoulders, drawing him away from the edge of the Glen. “yeah, time gets kind of….weird around Bad and Sam. Are you alright?” 

“I--Yeah. I’m fine.” Tommy draws himself up. He wants to wipe at his face, make sure there’s no trace of the tears on his cheeks. The Nook warbles to him and he feels a faint brush of reassurance from it. 

Wilbur looks down, “you’ve got a...friend.” 

“Yeah.” Tommy says, “I do. I guess.” 

“Techno’s gonna love that,” Will laughs. “Come on, its late for you. We should get home and put you to bed.” 

“I’m not a baby,” Tommy sneers. 

Will ruffles his hair, “whatever you say.” 

Fucker. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to add a doodle of Nook that I did the other day, not sure if that's working or not. If it isn't you can find it on my tumblr at technobladesbasement it's tagged for Vampire AU


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re getting too big for this,” Wilbur says softly, “not gonna be able to hold you before too long.” 
> 
> Tommy mumbles at him, something about vampires and being strong, he doesn’t really care. He’s only dimly aware as Wilbur carries him into the house and up the stairs, setting him down somewhere warm and soft. Gentle hands take off his shoes and then the blankets are pulled up around his shoulders. A kiss lands on his temple, “sweet dreams, Tommy” Wilbur murmurs.
> 
> And for once, they are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just fully fluff fam, there's a few itty bitty bits of angst but really this is just a great big pile of fluff, enjoy!

The moon is on its way down to the horizon when they leave the Huntsmen’s headquarters. Tommy yawns widely as they wait on the steps, Technoblade has whistled for the carriage and he can hear it clattering closer but its getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open. 

Nook crawls up his sleeve and curls up at the join of his shoulder and neck, chittering a little trill that makes Tommy think he’s being told to stay awake. He leans against Wilbur’s side, rubbing at his eyes. 

The night air is chilly, and Wilbur isn’t warm like he used to be, but this could be any other night they were out late. Wilbur’s arm is a reassuring weight on his shoulders, like he’ll protect Tommy from the world. Just like he used to. 

The clack of hooves against cobble rouses him and Tommy blinks his eyes open. Niki is sitting on the seat of the carriage, talking to Techno as he pats the horse’s neck. 

“Come on Toms,” Will murmurs, “lets get you inside.” 

“‘M fine,” Tommy mutters, but Wilbur doesn’t listen, nudging him up the steps and into the carriage. He sinks into the soft cushion, grumbling as his head  _ thunks _ against the wall when his neck won’t support it. 

He hears Phil chuckle but he can’t be bothered to open his eyes to glare at him. Someone settles onto the seat beside him and pulls him over to lean against them, he’d know Wilbur’s boney fucking elbows anywhere. He pokes at Will’s arm until he removes his elbow from Tommy’s spleen and wraps his arm around his shoulders again instead. 

The carriage tilts as someone else--Technoblade, probably--climbs in. “Kid’s already asleep?” he mutters, “its not even that late.” 

“Its three AM, Techno,” Phil says. 

“Yeah, and?” 

Phil sighs as the carriage sets off. The clatter and sway becomes pleasant background noise, lulling him deeper to sleep. Nook burrows into his shirt, purring so his tiny body vibrates against Tommy’s heart. 

He half wakes up when someone lifts him out of the seat, there’s voices murmuring around him but it doesn’t seem important enough to actually try waking up for. He snuggles closer to Wilbur, tucking his head under Will’s chin to escape the chilly air. 

“You’re getting too big for this,” Wilbur says softly, “not gonna be able to hold you before too long.” 

Tommy mumbles at him, something about vampires and being strong, he doesn’t really care. He’s only dimly aware as Wilbur carries him into the house and up the stairs, setting him down somewhere warm and soft. Gentle hands take off his shoes and then the blankets are pulled up around his shoulders. A kiss lands on his temple, “sweet dreams, Tommy” Wilbur murmurs.

And for once, they are.

*** 

He wakes up slowly, to the feeling of tiny paws pressing against his chin. He opens his eyes and Nook is perched on his chest, chittering in a way that Tommy somehow understands means that he needs to eat. 

Tommy groans, he didn’t think he was getting a babysitter. Nook chatters and jumps on his chest. “Fine.” Tommy mutters, “I’m up.”

He sits up, catching Nook in one hand. This….isn’t his room. There are thick curtains over the windows but in the dim light that makes it through them he can see a desk littered with papers and books. In the corner opposite the bed, there’s a guitar. 

Why the fuck is he in Wilbur’s room? 

Nook draws his attention, chattering again about how he needs to eat. Tommy sighs and pulls himself out of bed. His shoes are on the floor at the foot of the bed but he doesn’t bother putting them on. He opens the door and starts down the hallway. 

He can smell something cooking downstairs and it makes his stomach growl. Nook warbles smugly, crawling up his sleeve to sit on his shoulder again. “Whatever,” Tommy mutters at him, “I’d have gotten something when I got up, you didn’t have to wake me up.” 

Wilbur meets him at the top of the stairs, “oh, hey, you’re up. I thought I heard you moving around. Sleep okay?” 

“Yeah,” Tommy says, stifling a yawn. “Why was I in your room?” 

Wilbur smiles with a touch of embarrassment, “just,” he shrugs, looking away. “Instinct I guess.” 

Vampires are weird. 

“You hungry?”

Nook chatters. 

“Guess I am.” 

He’ll not get any peace with all these fucking magical fuckers worrying about him constantly. 

He doesn’t secretly like it. Its annoying. 

It is. 

Niki is serving up food when they come down to the table, “hey,” she says, “I didn’t expect to see you in time for lunch.” 

“Lunch?” 

Niki laughs, “lunch. Those vampires are really terrible for your sleep schedule.” 

Technoblade grumbles as she elbows him in the shoulder and Phil smothers a laugh. They all gather around the table, helping themselves to the meal. Tommy is just about finished when Nook crawls down from his shoulder to his hand, leaning over to snag a bit of chicken off his plate. 

“What is  _ that? _ ” Technoblade asks, and Tommy freezes. There isn’t any anger in the tone, mostly confusion, but he’s suddenly reminded of when Matron found out about the kitten he and Tubbo were feeding and hiding in their room. She’d taken it by the scruff right out of their hands and they’d never seen Smokey again. 

His other hand cups around Nook, as if that would protect him. Nook gulps down the chicken, heedless. He purs, its good, but he would prefer it raw and bloody. 

“Sam gave him a present,” Wilbur says, laughter in his voice. He doesn’t seem bothered, but Tommy still pulls Nook closer. 

Nook crawls up his shirt, purring reassuringly. For some reason he seems convinced that Technoblade won’t hurt him, won’t take him. Tommy isn’t. 

“Let me see,” Technoblade says, holding out a hand. 

Giving over Nook is the  _ last _ thing that Tommy wants to do, but Nook jumps out of his grasp and darts across the table before he can stop him. He skirts the edge of the serving platter, crawling onto the back of Technoblade’s hand and standing on his hind legs to chatter up to him. 

Technoblade only raises and eyebrow and grunts, “make sure you take good care of it, I don’t want it shredding my books because it got bored or something.” 

Nook darts back to Tommy and Tommy cradles him close, “I will.” 

Technoblade nods and turns away, talking to Niki about something. Phil leans over to Tommy, “don’t worry,” he whispers, “Techno wouldn’t hurt him. He’s a big softie for animals.” 

Tommy stares at Phil, apparently he’s lost the fucking plot if he thinks  _ anything  _ about Technoblade could be considered ‘soft’. 

Phil smiles at him, “why do you think Carl lets him so close? He’s spent  _ hours _ with that horse.” 

That...would explain why the horse had not a lick of sense in its skull. Every animal feared vampires, except for Carl and Nook apparently. Tommy isn’t even sure Nook  _ counts _ as an animal. 

“Don’t you have stuff to  _ do _ , Phil?” Technoblade asks, voice annoyed. 

“Actually, since we’re all bunkering down, no,” Phil says, “I don’t. Unless you want to play a few rounds of chess.” 

“Ooh!” Will says, “that could be fun.” 

It sounds boring as  _ fuck _ but apparently this is the kind of thing vampires do for entertainment. Eternity must be so fucking  _ dull _ . 

“They play very well,” Niki says to him, “its pretty entertaining if you can follow it.” 

“Never played chess,” Tommy says, “too many rules.” 

“We’ll teach you,” Technoblade says, standing. “Come on.” 

***

Chess isn’t boring, actually, its fucking  _ infuriating. _ There are too many pieces and each one has its own fucking rules that he has to keep straight. While also remembering all these fucking ‘gambits’ and strategies that Phil is telling him about. 

Tommy glares at the piece that looks like a horse which apparently  _ can’t _ kill the other piece that looks like a tower despite it being  _ right fucking there _ . But  _ Phil’s _ crown-y piece (not the crown-y piece that he has to defend, the  _ other _ one that looks basically the same but is apparently very different) can zip all over the fucking board. 

“You’re making this shit up.” 

Phil smothers a laugh, “I’m not, I swear.” 

“You’re laughing!” Tommy points an accusing finger at him. 

“I’m not lying, these are the rules.” 

“Will,” Tommy says--alright maybe whines. 

“He’s telling the truth,” Wilbur says because he is a terrible brother. “You’re doing good for a beginner Tommy.” 

“I’ve lost all my bits!” 

“Pieces,” Technoblade says, like  _ that’s _ what fucking matters here. 

Tommy glares at him once he’s sure he’s looking at his book. Nook chatters at him, pointing out a way that he can move one of his tower-y pieces because of  _ course _ everyone can fucking figure this out but him. Tommy scoots the tower to the right fucking square and glares at Phil, daring him to claim there’s some fucking rule about that. 

Instead Phil moves one of his pieces and suddenly he’s won, apparently. Even though the piece is  _ nowhere near _ Tommy’s crown-y piece. Tommy growls and flicks it over. “Can someone else play now?” 

He’s so fucking tired of this. 

“One more game,” Technoblade says, setting his book aside. 

Tommy isn’t gonna say no to him because he’s still  _ terrifying _ but he looks to Will, pleading with his eyes for a rescue. 

“Come on,” Technoblade says, “I’ll help you.” He pulls up another chair, right next to Tommy and starts putting the pieces back on the board. “The rest of you are shit at explaining.” 

He’s close, close enough that if he were alive, Tommy would probably be able to feel the heat of his skin as they set up the pieces together. He’s not  _ scared _ because that would be dumb, because everyone says that Technoblade is nice, but. 

Alright maybe he’s scared. 

Whatever. 

He’s a fucking vampire, Tommy’s allowed to be scared of him. 

Nook purrs, twining around his fingers, the moss of his coat is softer than fur. Tommy isn’t sure  _ how _ Nook proposes to protect him, but its nice of him to offer. 

As he sets them down, Techno names each of the pieces and how they move. “Chess is all about forethought,” he says, “you can’t just fling your pieces all over the board, you’ve got to think about how they can work together, and work against your opponent. Its strategy, not might.” 

Tommy isn’t sure that Techno has  _ ever _ needed to bother with fucking strategy in his  _ life. _ There’s no way he’s not just strong enough to bowl over any moron that challenges him. 

Phil moves one of his pawns forward and Technoblade directs Tommy to do the same. He talks him through each of the steps, guessing Phil’s strategy and suggesting counters to Tommy. 

Even when Tommy messes up, Technoblade doesn’t get mad at him. Or even frustrated, really. He just tells him where he went wrong and how to fix it. Its not a way that anyone else has ever corrected Tommy in his life. Aside from Will, of course. 

Phil taunts Technoblade over the board, and Techno laughs back, giving as good as he gets. His voice is a low rumble, and for once instead of being terrifying its kind of...nice. In a way. 

He gets his ass kicked at chess again, but he at least puts up a fight this time and Technoblade look at him and smiles even though he’s lost. “Not bad.” 

There is no curl of pride in his chest, there isn’t. He doesn’t care what Technoblade thinks. He lost anyway, its dumb to be proud of not losing completely, but still losing. 

“Thanks,” he says anyway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its all downhill from here.  
> :)


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the third night in a row of getting woken up by Wilbur 'checking on him’ Tommy is reaching the end of his rope. Will is watching him with gleaming eyes in the dark, moonlight falling across his face. 
> 
> “I’m fine,” Tommy says, exasperated, “tired, because some fucker keeps waking me up, but I’m fine, Wilbur. Go away.”
> 
> Will doesn’t move. He just stands in the dark and stares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, you guys are getting today's chapter early because the power is out and I don't know if I'll have the battery power to put it up at the usual time. I've been up since 4AM and its so cold the electricity froze, there are no more laws. 
> 
> Enjoy chapter 🎉

The next few days are peaceful, its kind of like a holiday. They stay inside and while they may occasionally drift off to be on their own for a bit, by and large they all gravitate to each other. If it weren’t for Dream out there hunting them, and Tommy in here hiding that fact, it would almost be peaceful. 

But there is a sort of tension in the manor, they gravitate to each other not out of desire for company--or at least not entirely--but also to make sure that they’re all here. They’re all safe. Nobody has disappeared into the dark. 

It reminds Tommy of those nights in the orphanage after there were ghouls spotted nearby. Its even more terrifying though because these aren’t a bunch of scared kids, these are  _ vampires _ , old, important vampires, who are on at least semi-friendly terms with The Demon. 

Tommy keeps Nook close and wonders if he should tell them about Dream. Sam said he’d be looking into it, so maybe its okay if he just...doesn’t bring it up. Sam can take care of Dream and Tommy never needs to mention how he used to work for him. How he was planning to get them all killed. 

When Dream comes and tosses rocks at his window the next night, he keeps himself wrapped in his blankets, Nook held to his chest and pretends not to hear. The vampires don’t seem to notice, at least, so Tommy breathes easier and hopes that Dream just doesn’t come back.

As the days wear on though, things become less and less peaceful. Wilbur is just anxious at first, popping in to check on Tommy at random times in the day and night. Then he starts getting frustrated, pacing around the house, snipping at Technoblade and Phil, and even Niki and Tommy a few times, but he usually catches himself quickly. 

On the third night in a row of getting woken up by Wilbur 'checking on him’ Tommy is reaching the end of his rope. Will is watching him with gleaming eyes in the dark, moonlight falling across his face. 

“I’m  _ fine _ ,” Tommy says, exasperated, “tired, because some fucker keeps  _ waking me up _ , but I’m fine, Wilbur. Go away.” 

Will doesn’t move. He just stands in the dark and stares. 

Tommy throws a pillow at him, it  _ fwumps _ against his chest, but Wilbur doesn’t seem to notice. Nook  _ growls _ , high and vibrating his entire little body. Tommy grabs him before he can lunge for Wilbur, “what the hell? What’s gotten into you?” 

Will takes a step closer, there’s something tense and drawn in his body. Like he’s straining towards Tommy and trying to keep himself back at the same time. “Are you sure?” he asks, “are you sure you’re okay? I just--” Abruptly he squeezes his eyes shut and turns away. “Fuck.” 

“Will?” 

Will’s hand are running through his hair, pulling at it like he’s trying to rip it all off. “Techno!” he shouts suddenly, “Techno I--” 

He breaks off, leaning his head against the wall. Tommy pushes the blankets aside, something is wrong with Will and he wants to go to him, but Nook fucking  _ bites  _ him. Not enough to break the skin, just a pinch really, but it makes Tommy yelp. 

The door slams open and Techno and Phil are standing there. Techno’s eyes sweep over the room, taking everything in, he freezes when he sees Will leaning on the wall. “Phil, get Tommy.” 

“No!” Wilbur snarls, he whips around, his teeth flashing in the moonlight. “Don’t touch him!” 

Tommy freezes, remembering suddenly that Wilbur is a vampire, and he is a human. They’re brothers, despite everything, they’re brothers. But Will has been stuck in the manor for weeks. 

Techno steps between them, “Wilbur,” he says, a commanding note in his voice. “You know we’re not going to hurt him. Listen to your head, not your instincts.” 

Will takes a shaky breath, “right,” he croaks, “sorry. Sorry.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me it was this bad?” Techno asks, the room isn’t quite as tense, Techno isn’t quite as tense, but Tommy can see that Techno is still up on the balls of his feet. Ready to move if he needs to.

Tommy swallows, staring at his brother, his heart is beating too loud in his ears. Phil slips across the room to his side, “you alright mate?” 

“Fine,” Tommy makes himself say. Nook is purring up a storm, leaning hard against him, trying to comfort him, reassure him. “Will wouldn’t have--” 

“No,” Phil says immediately, not even a hint of doubt in his tone. “He wouldn’t have hurt you. He’s just not gone hunting in awhile. Half of him wanted to, yes, but he wouldn’t have.” 

Tommy looks back to Will and Techno, they’re huddled close, talking in low murmurs. He holds Nook a little closer, “are--are you sure?” he asks, so quiet that he hopes Will and Techno don’t hear him. 

“Completely,” Phil assures him, sitting on the edge of the bed and tucking Tommy under his arm. “He loves you, Toms. His instincts are just confused between saving himself and keeping you safe. We should have noticed before.”

“He  _ should _ have told us,” Techno grumbles, “instead of playing martyr.” 

Wilbur winces, looking down and away, “Sorry,” he mutters again, Tommy isn’t sure if its to him or to the others. 

Tommy still doesn’t understand, he looks between all of the vampires, hoping that one of them will enlighten him. 

“You’re his,” Techno says gruffly. 

“Techno,” Phil interrupts, but Techno shoots him a look and continues. 

“You’re his, he’ll keep you safe, even from himself, but he’s young. When his instincts get going they can get confused.” 

Wilbur looks like he wants to sink into the floor. 

“Techno are you sure--” 

“Tommy will be more scared by unanswered questions, Phil,” Techno says, “he’s entitled to the truth.” 

He may be entitled to it, but he’s not sure he wants it. 

No, he does. Techno is right, being left to come up with his own answers would be worse than knowing. He’s always been scared of being nothing more than a possession to the vampires, but that fear had faded during the time they’d been locked up together. Now the reality is in front of him. 

Tommy isn’t sure how he feels about it. 

“Its the nature of our kind to be territorial,” Techno says, like he’s reading from a book. Simply a dry fact, not something that has altered the very path of Tommy’s life. “All magical beings are to one degree or another. Even Sam is possessive over the humans in his care, why do you think he started the Huntsmen? Will was being dumb by not telling us how bad it had become. He needs to hunt, and he needs to protect you. He got confused. But he wouldn't have hurt you.” 

Phil’s hand lands on his shoulder, “I’ll take him for a hunt, get him sorted out. Don’t worry.” 

Tommy nods, forcing a smile onto his face. Phil guides Wilbur out of the room with a firm hand on his shoulder, leaving Tommy and Techno alone. 

“Phil will keep him from hurting anyone,” Techno says gruffly, crossing his arms and looking at the window. “...You okay?” 

“Yeah. I’m fine.” 

“You don’t have to be, you got flung headfirst into this shit, you didn’t sign up for it.” 

Tommy bites his lip and looks down at Nook in his hands. Nook warbles up at him, not a real feeling, just a general sort of support. 

“Will is my brother,” Tommy says, his voice sounds firmer than he expects it to, “I signed up for whatever shit he’s got going on.” 

Techno ruffles his hair, “you’re a good kid. Sometimes.” 

“Sometimes?!” 

Techno laughs as he lets the door shut behind him. Tommy lays down, pulling the blankets around himself. He doesn’t really think he’ll get back to sleep, not after everything, but he’ll at least try. 

He lays in the peaceful quiet, Nook curled up over his heart and lets himself drift. He isn’t expecting to fall asleep, but he must, because the next thing he knows there is a terrible banging coming from the front door. 

He stumbles out of bed, making it to the top of the stairs at the same time as Techno. Techno wards him back with a silent hand and a stern look but Tommy stays at the top of the stairs as Techno opens the door. 

Phil falls through it, beaten, bloodied, and alone. 

“He’s got Will, Techno, he took Wilbur.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phil’s got one hand in a deathgrip on Techno’s arm. “He caught us by surprise, old friend, I’m sorry.”   
> “Don’t,” Techno says, his voice tight with anger, and below that, worry. “Don’t apologize.”   
> “He’s got Will,” Phil insists, “he said--he said he’d give back what is ours, if we give him back what’s his.”   
> Tommy’s heart freezes in his chest.   
> Dream.   
> Dream did this, to get him back.   
> This is his fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am once again coming to you early with this chapter because the power is still out. We're on a nonessential part of the grid so they've just turned us off. Enjoying that. They did give us some power during the night though so you guys get the cliffhanger resolved. Reading your screams of despair kept me very warm, thank you guys lol.

Techno drags Phil into the house, kicking the door shut behind him. “Niki!” he roars, but he doesn’t pause to wait for her. He lifts Phil into his arms, carrying him to the couch so quickly that Tommy’s eyes can’t even follow the movement. 

He lays Phil down with surprising gentleness, brushing hair out of his eyes. Tommy sprints down the stairs, Nook chattering worry in his ear, claws scraping against his skin. Phil looks  _ bad _ , his leg is sitting at an angle that makes Tommy’s stomach lurch, he’s covered in something muddy brown,almost black. 

It oozes from cuts down his arms and chest,  _ blood, _ Tommy realizes,  _ vampire blood. _

He’s got one hand in a deathgrip on Techno’s arm. “He caught us by surprise, old friend, I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t,” Techno says, his voice tight with anger, and below that, worry. “Don’t apologize.” 

“He’s got Will,” Phil insists, “he said--he said he’d give back what is ours, if we give him back what’s his.” 

Tommy’s heart freezes in his chest. 

_ Dream _ . 

Dream did this, to get him back. 

This is his fault. 

“He’s not getting  _ anything,”  _ Techno snarls, deep in his chest. “We’ll get you fixed up and then we’ll deal with him.” 

Niki rushes into the room, gasping when she sees the state Phil is in. 

Because of Tommy. 

He’s hurt because of Tommy, Will’s been kidnapped because of Tommy. 

“Knife,” Techno says shortly, holding out his hand. Niki hands him her silvered blade and Techno draws it against his wrist. He is stoic against the pain, setting the knife aside with steady hands and then he props Phil up and holds the wrist to his mouth. “Drink.” This command comes a bit more gently, but it is no less a command. 

“Tech--” 

“Do  _ not  _ argue with me,” Techno growls. “I am commanding you to  _ drink _ .” 

Phil drinks. 

The wounds close, slowly, but steadily. Niki sets about putting a splint on his leg, murmuring a quiet warning before the terrible  _ crunch _ of the bone going back into place. Phil cries out, muffled against Techno’s wrist. Techno hushes him and runs a hand through his hair.

Finally, he allows Phil to pull away from his wrist. They both nod to each other silently, no words needed. Then Niki holds out her wrist. 

“Niki--” Techno begins. 

“Will is my friend too,” she says, rage in her voice, “you’ll need strength to get him back. So take mine.” 

“You don’t have to,” Phil says. 

“Its not about have to,” Niki replies, “you go out there and kick his ass, and you bring Wilbur home. We’re all doing our part.” 

They are. They’re doing their part. 

Tommy has to do his. 

He goes while they are distracted, muffling Nook’s worried warbles in his shirt. He slips out of the door unnoticed. 

The night is cold around him, but he pays no mind as he runs down the street as fast as his legs will take him. Nook is still chittering to him, trying to convince him to go back, but all of this is happening because of him. Its up to him to fix it. 

He retraces the barely remembered path of that carriage ride so long ago. Its probably a miracle that he doesn’t get lost, but that just means that he’s doing the right thing. He stares, panting up at Dream’s house. Nook warbles worriedly, but Tommy isn’t giving up now. He climbs the steps and lifts the great brass knocker, letting it fall two, three times. 

The door opens, a familiar face, the maid who took care of him while he stayed. She stares at him like she’s seen a ghost, “young T--” 

“Where’s Dream?” 

“You shouldn’t be here--” 

“ _ Where is Dream? _ ” 

She bites her lip. 

“In the basement, I’ll--I’ll show you the way.” 

She leads him through the house, the halls are wide and silent, ominous in a way that Techno’s never were. Cold. Lonely, almost. 

The basement is worse. 

The maid leaves him at the doorway, scurrying back down the hall like The Demon is after her. Nook is dead silent, pressing against his neck. Tommy swallows and opens the door. 

He sees Wilbur first, fallen in a pool of moonlight, and a pool of blood. Dream is standing over him, for once his cloak is off, and his mask as well. He’s paused, one hand fisted in Wilbur’s hair, raising his head. Wilbur’s eyes are bleary and unfocused, there’s a collar around his neck, like he’s a fucking dog. 

“Let him go,” Tommy demands. 

Dream laughs, his back still to him. “You are just  _ full _ of surprises, aren’t you kid?” 

“Tommy,” Wilbur gasps, “Tommy no.” 

“Oh hush,” Dream says, “Thomas and I go way back, don’t we? Not as far as you guys, apparently, but far enough.” 

“I said let him go!” Tommy snaps, “you don’t need to hunt them, they’re good vampires, Sam knows they’re in the city.” 

“Thomas, Thomas, Thomas,” Dream says, he lets go of Wilbur’s hair, letting him drop to the floor. “You’re just so slow on the uptake, aren’t you?” He turns, finally, and Tommy--

Tommy has never seen such beautiful eyes. Like rubies, blood red and glinting in the moonlight. 

“Tommy--” Wibur gasps, he sounds scared but Tommy can’t imagine why. Why would anyone be scared with Dream here? He takes a step closer. “Tommy NO!” Will shouts. 

“Tommy, Tommy, Tommy,” Dream mocks, his voice high and whining. “You’re just as soft as that fucking Demon. All of you, twisted around the humans’ fingers. Come here, Thomas. Or do you prefer Tommy? I never asked.” 

“Tommy.”   


Dream tilts his head, “huh, alright.  _ Tommy _ then. Kind of cute.” He holds out a hand and Tommy goes to him. Dream isn’t wearing his gloves anymore, his skin is cool against Tommy’s when he grabs his shoulder. 

He leans down, speaking close to Tommy’s ear, “can you do something for me, you think?” 

Tommy nods and Dream laughs, “such a good boy, Tommy.” His hand strokes through Tommy’s hair and Tommy leans back into the touch. “Awww,” Dream cooes, “I see why you like this one, Wilbur, right?” 

Wilbur snarls. 

Dream’s hand descends from his hair, cupping his cheek to make Tommy turn to him. His eyes are just so  _ beautiful,  _ his smile wide, his fangs so bright. His thumb strokes over Tommy’s throat. 

“Don’t,” Wilbur says, his voice is choked with rage and terror. “Please,” he says, quieter, more desperate. “Please don’t.” 

Dream turns away, “that is so  _ sweet _ ,” he croons, “but don’t worry Will, Tommy isn’t the one who’s going to die first.” 

Dream wraps Tommy’s fingers around something. He looks down, it is the hilt of a dagger, gleaming silver. 

“You want to be good, don’t you Tommy?” Dream asks, Tommy nods desperately. “I know you do,” Dream says soothingly, his hand pets Tommy’s hair again. “What I need you to do, is kill Wilbur, Can you do that?” 

“Tommy no,” Will says, a desperate moan. 

“Come on Tommy,” Dream cajoles. 

Tommy nods. 

Dream  _ grins. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) 
> 
> Well, resolved the cliffhanger from last time, good right?
> 
> BRUH guys I have been *waiting* to give you this chapter lmao. Maddie and I were both *screaming* when a lot of people guessed Drampire *immediately* when we were trying to hide it, but then talked yourselves out of it somehow. I hope at least some of you were surprised lol. There's still at least one big reveal coming that I don't think anyone has guessed so at least there's that. 
> 
> Maddie says she is sorry but I am not. Suffer :)


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a clatter behind him, a slam, someone opened the door, but there were no footsteps. He turns by instinct, and Techno and Phil are standing behind Dream.  
> “So,” Dream says, “you finally found me. Took you long enough.”  
> “Techno,” Will gasps, “Thralled, Tommy’s thralled.”  
> Techno snarls, “let them go.”  
> “Go?” Dream asks, “but we were just getting to the good part. Tommy, I didn’t tell you to stop.”  
> “Tommy,” Techno says before he can turn back around, “Stop.”  
> His eyes gleam in the dark of the basement, red and beautiful. Tommy’s head hurts, like he’s being pulled in two directions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, Maddie speaking!
> 
> Silver is stuck in a very not good, pretty fucking terrible situation with no electricity and no heating, and I really hope you all keep her in your thoughts! She did ask for me to save you all from the cliffhanger, so here I am with the update. I'm updating her on your reactions by text and she's really appreciative of it all. 
> 
> For now, enjoy the chapter!

Tommy takes a step forward, the knife is solid in his hand, like it's the only real thing in the world besides Dream. Even Wilbur doesn't seem real. How could he be? The Wilbur Tommy knows wouldn’t cry like this, wouldn’t stare up at him with eyes filled with begging and acceptance in the same measure.

“It's okay Tommy,” Will says, “I forgive you. It's okay.” 

“See?” Dream says behind him, “it's all okay, you can do it Tommy. You were such a good student, this is just one more lesson.” 

Tommy stops just in arm’s reach. He just has to swipe out with the knife, just has to cut through Wilbur’s throat. But...he blinks, heavy and slow. 

He doesn’t…

“Tommy,” Dream says, “look at me.” 

He turns and Dream catches him in his gaze. “Kill him.” 

He adjusts his grip on the knife. 

There is a clatter behind him, a slam, someone opened the door, but there were no footsteps. He turns by instinct, and Techno and Phil are standing behind Dream. 

“So,” Dream says, “you finally found me. Took you long enough.” 

“Techno,” Will gasps, “Thralled, Tommy’s thralled.” 

Techno snarls, “let them go.” 

“Go?” Dream asks, “but we were just getting to the good part. Tommy, I didn’t tell you to stop.” 

“Tommy,” Techno says before he can turn back around, “Stop.” 

His eyes gleam in the dark of the basement, red and beautiful. Tommy’s head hurts, like he’s being pulled in two directions. 

“Really?” Dream asks, “You think you’re that strong?” 

“I’ve come a long way since you left me in that gutter,” Techno snaps. 

“I guess we’ll find out,” Dream laughs. He backs away from them, a flicker of movement and he’s across the room. “You may be all grown up now, Technoblade, but I’m still your sire, and you are still bound to my commands, and I am commanding you _to kneel._ ” 

Techno _growls_ , deep and menacing, but he’s standing too stiff, braced with one hand on the wall. His claws sink into the stone as easily as a knife through butter. “No,” he snarls through gritted teeth. 

“You’re more than I thought you’d ever be,” Dream says, “I’ll admit, I figured you’d just lay in that gutter for the rest of eternity. But look at you!” he sounds almost proud, “nearly managing to resist me, got a little coven of your own. But you’re weak, Techno. You _care_ about your little _pets_ , don’t you? Too human, you always were, even after I made you _more_ . **_Kneel, Technoblade._ ** **”**

Techno falls to his knees. 

Dream laughs, “I told you,” he says, “you’re not stronger than me. You never will be. And now your little coven? They all belong to _me_. Kneel, all of you.” 

Phil falls to his knees with a gasp, and Wilbur lets out a thin, pained moan as his body drags itself to its knees. The only ones on their feet are Tommy and Dream. 

Dream takes a deep, satisfied breath, smiling wide. “I’ve missed this,” he says, seemingly to himself. “I’ve been doing all this hiding and cowering, I missed this feeling.” 

“You fuck--” Techno begins, but Dream’s eyes flash. 

“Hush now, Techno,” he says, “your sire is speaking. You know it's not polite to interrupt.” 

He taps a finger at his chin, “now, I _was_ going to kill Wilbur, but really that’s a bit of a waste, isn’t it? A strong young vampire like him?” He crosses the room to kneel next to Wilbur, pulling back his hair so he can look into his face, “once he learns to behave he’ll be quite the force. Is that why you turned him?” 

Wilbur growls at him, but Dream only laughs. 

“Phil, of course, I can see is a good right-hand man. Dependable, level-headed,” he makes his leisurely way across the room, he grabs Phil’s jaw, turning his face one way then the other, ignoring the venomous hiss that he gets. “A bit of an older one, you almost turned him too late. He’s strong enough though, he’ll be able to keep up with us.” 

He returns to the center of the room, “all in all? A solid start. The only problem, of course…” he turns to Tommy, his red eyes gleaming. “Dear, sweet, little Tommy. Come here, Tommy.” 

He holds a hand out and Tommy walks to it, until Dream’s hand lands on his shoulder and draws him closer. “Such an obedient little thing, lots of fire still though. He’d make a great vampire, wouldn’t you?” 

Tommy nods, because he will agree with anything Dream says, so long as he keeps watching him with those red eyes. 

“Only,” Dream says, “he’s so very small, isn’t he? A little young, a little skinny, a little _weak_. Of course, he’ll grow, if he gets the time. But, hmm,” Dream’s head tilts. “What do you think Tommy?” 

Tommy doesn’t know how to answer, it's too hard to think when Dream’s eyes are boring down into him. It's hard to think of anything but how beautiful they are. 

From the floor, Wilbur makes a muffled noise, but he can’t speak, none of them can while Dream holds sway. None of them can stand either. 

Dream cups his cheek, “I will admit,” he says, “I’ve grown fond of him.” He tilts his head the other way. “That would make you guys happy, wouldn’t it? To get to keep your little pet, and then one day he could join us. But you haven’t been very good, now have you? I’m not sure I should reward that sort of behavior.” 

He tilts Tommy’s head back, exposing his throat. Tommy’s heart is racing for some reason, his breath coming in tiny, almost desperate gasps. 

“It's alright Tommy,” Dream murmurs, “it won’t hurt. Much.” 

His breath washes over Tommy’s throat, the first barely-there prick of his fangs. 

Nook growls, his tiny body vibrating with the force of it. Dream laughs, “what the hell is this? A little pet for your pet? That’s adorable.” 

He plucks Nook off of Tommy’s shirt, dangling him in the air, “you look like the Spirit’s handiwork. A little spy on the little spy. Hilarious.” 

Nook growls again, but it's not the high little vibration that Tommy is used to, it's something deeper, and _far_ more menacing. Because Nook isn’t the tiny little creature he’s used to, he’s something _bigger_ , and far, _far_ more menacing. 

Moss hangs from his flanks, mushrooms grow up his spine, he moves with a creaking groan, like a tree bending before a storm. He turns, and his eyes are like fireflies in the hollows of a tree, shining out from the depths of the darkness. His tiny claws that hadn’t even been able to scratch Tommy’s skin scrape across the stone floor of the basement, leaving marks inches deep. 

He growls and _lunges_ , jaws spread wide enough to swallow Dream whole. Dream darts out of the way, but there is fear on his face. “What the _hell_?” he demands, but he doesn’t have time to say much else before Nook is snapping at him again. 

“Tommy--!” Dream shouts, but before he can get the order out, Nook bats him with one massive paw and he slams into the wall. With an almost audible _snap_ the Thrall is broken, and everything goes black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hope you all enjoyed the chapter! We had a ton of fun coming up with the events, and Silver did an absolutely wonderful job making it sound so incredibly tense and suspenseful (She should have never let me write the notes, I have wayyyyyyyy too many compliments to throw her way lmao)
> 
> Did anyone guess Dream and Techno's relationship? This was a loooong time coming, and if you go back and look at older chapters, there is a ton of clues pointing out this way. I'm so excited for you all to finally discover it, and I'm really looking forward to your reactions! Silver did such a fantastic job with that reveal too!  
> We have a prequel that explains it all in more depth, and I'm so hyped for you all to see it!!
> 
> Oh and there's Nook! Isn't he cool? Silver has another drawing of him, but as Big Boi Nook. I'm not too sure how to add it, but she'll most likely share it with you all when she's back! Again, keep her in your thoughts, please!!
> 
> EDIT: Silver here! just posting the pic of Big Boye Nook ^.^


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy buries his face in Wilbur’s chest, “thank you,” he whispers, but he knows that they can hear him, “for everything.”  
> “For you, Tommy?” Wilbur says, “anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we fucking go guys! final chapter!! I am so glad to be able to bring this to you all! its been a wild ride, but here we are! There is of course three prequels that I already have written and ready to post, and I'm working (slowly, considering the power situation) on a brand new AU! I'm seven chapters in. If you follow me on tumblr you already know what it is (technoblades basement if anyone is curious) but the rest of you I think will get to find out after the prequels are done. 
> 
> Speaking of the power situation: thank you to everyone for the kind wishes and thoughts! Maddie sent me all your comments and now that I've got a little bit of power (we're still out, but my aunt has power so I was able to charge my laptop and phone at her house, which is how I'm posting now) we will hopefully have it back by the end of the day, possibly the end of the week, depending on the reason we don't have it now (p much everyone else in our town does, but something got damaged with the transformer or something leading to us. yay) 
> 
> and of course, the heartfelt thanks to everyone who kudoed, commented, bookmarked, subscribed, or even read and enjoyed without saying anything! I'm so glad that I could share this with you guys and I'm especially glad that you liked it. 
> 
> Without further ado, I give you the final chapter of Ruby in the Moonlight

“Ah,” Sam says, “you are waking up. That is good, your family has been worried about you.” 

Tommy blinks up at the tree branches above him, laden with moss and soft leaves. “Where…?” 

“You are in my glen, little one,” Sam says, “you have been unconscious for several days.” 

“Days?” Tommy yelps, it can’t have been days since..since. 

Oh _fuck_. 

“Peace,” Sam says, his hand resting on Tommy’s chest, pushing him back down to the pallet of grass and moss. “You are in no danger, neither is your family. All is well.” 

“But Dream--” 

“Is no longer your problem, he will not be escaping from my grasp.” 

“He’s still alive? Or…” 

Sam chuckles, “for now.” 

Tommy is glad that Sam seems to like him, that laugh is...not a friendly sound. Abruptly, he is reminded of when Techno said that Sam was just as possessive as a vampire. 

“Your family are not the only ones to be worried about you,” Sam says, turning to pick up something off of the ground. He deposits Nook onto Tommy’s chest, “your friend has been most anxious to see you awake.” 

Tommy stares at Nook, once again tiny and harmless, as he purrs up a tiny storm on his chest “he uh…” 

“Defended you,” Sam says, smiling, “as he was intended to.” 

“Yeah, you could have warned us about that,” Wilbur says, appearing at the edge of the clearing. Sam turns and looks at him. “....with respect.” Wilbur mutters. 

Techno and Phil are behind him, all of them on their feet, not their knees, their injuries healed. Tears burn at the corners of his eyes, “you’re okay,” His voice comes out wet and choked. 

“Of course we are,” Wilbur says softly, kneeling at his side, “we’ve got you to look out for. Can’t let anything keep us from that.” 

Tommy launches himself into Wilbur’s chest, tears spilling over his cheeks. He doesn’t even bother trying to hide them. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, “I’m so fucking sorry.” 

“Tommy,” Wilbur says like he’s in pain, “its okay, its okay, I promise you.” He pulls Tommy close, and two more hands, cold on his skin but familiar and warm in his heart lay themselves on his back. 

“We’re not mad,” Phil says, “we understand. _You_ are what is important.” 

“Glad you’re not dead,” Techno mutters gruffly. 

There is a muffled thump, like someone getting smacked. 

“We were worried about you,” Techno corrects himself, “I was. You know. Worried.” 

Tommy buries his face in Wilbur’s chest, “thank you,” he whispers, but he knows that they can hear him, “for everything.” 

“For you, Tommy?” Wilbur says, “ _anything_.” 

*** 

Tubbo has heard the stories, the rules. They say that if someone you once knew, someone you once thought dead, returns to you with blood red eyes, they are no longer your friend. They are undead, and they have no more care for you than a hawk does a mouse. 

But Tommy’s eyes aren’t red, they’re familiar, reassuring blue, and his smile is wide and bright. “Hey Tubbo,” he says, bold and bright, like he never even left. “Have I got a story to tell you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to stick around for the prequels and especially Maddie's sequel. I've been getting to read it as she goes and guys its So Good. You get to see so much more of the worldbuilding and such. I won't give away too much but its GOOOD she's doing an amazing job.
> 
> ALSO! I posted the pic of Big Boy Nook onto ch 17! take a look at him in all his glory


End file.
